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ALUMNEWS

2019

ALUMNI

UCT GETS A NEW CHANCELLOR

TAKING ACTION AGAINST GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

INSPIRING A NEW GENERATION OF

AFRICAN LEADERS

UCT aspires to become a premier academic meeting point between South Africa, the rest of Africa and the world. Taking advantage of expanding global networks and our distinct vantage point in Africa, we are committed, through innovative research and scholarship, to grapple with the key issues of our natural and social worlds. We aim to produce graduates whose qualifications are internationally recognised and locally applicable, underpinned by values of engaged citizenship and social justice. UCT will promote diversity and transformation within our institution and beyond, including growing the next generation of academics.

2020 VISIONOur vision for UCT is to be an inclusive, engaged and research-intensive African university. UCT will inspire creativity through outstanding achievements in discovery and innovation. It will be celebrated for the quality of its learning and contribution to citizenship. We will enhance the lives of students and staff and will advance a more equitable and sustainable social order. We aspire to be a leader in the global Higher Education landscape.

OUR STATEMENT OF VALUES• We embrace our African identity.

• We widen educational and social opportunities.

• We enhance the lives of individuals and communities.

• We build an equitable social order based on respect for human rights.

• We advance the public good by teaching, generating knowledge and actively engaging with the key challenges facing our society.

CREATING A UNIVERSITY CULTURE THAT IS• Creative • Research-Informed• Accountable• Responsible• Respectful• Rigorous• Nurturing• Excellent• Open• Open-Minded• Curious• Honest• Collegial• Inclusive

A NEW, INCLUSIVE IDENTITY FOR UCTWe want a student and staff body that is more representative of the country and the continent, and for students and staff to see themselves – their cultures, values, heritage and knowledge systems – reflected at the university.

GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS WITH A DISTINCTIVE AFRICAN LENSWe want to advance the status and distinctiveness of scholarship in Africa, and attract and connect people from all over the world, by promoting a vibrant and supportive intellectual environment at UCT.

A RESEARCH-INTENSIVE UNIVERSITYWe want UCT researchers to continue making a distinctive contribution to local and global knowledge and to produce new solutions to challenges facing the African continent and the world.

INNOVATION IN TEACHING AND LEARNINGWe want to improve students’ success rates, broaden their academic perspectives, stimulate their social consciousness and cultivate more critical citizens by renewing our approach to teaching and learning, and pioneering new methods.

SOCIAL IMPACT THROUGH ENGAGED SCHOLARSHIPWe want to enhance UCT’s engaged scholarship to address critical development and social justice issues, including the expansion of community and external partnerships.

MISSION TABLE OF CONTENTS

UCT STRATEGIC PLAN

1 Vice chancellor’s foreword

3 From the executive director of the Development and Alumni Department

5 New chancellor continues legacy of women’s leadership at UCT

9 Sipho Pityana reflects on his time as Chair of the UCT Council

11 UCT leaps up in world rankings

13 Taking action against gender-based violence

17 New appointments

21 First Khoekhoegowab language course cohort honoured

22 Mpumelelo Mhlongo makes history for UCT sport

23 Rethinking art at UCT

25 UCT student entrepreneurs named top in South Africa

27 Inspiring and connecting a new generation of African leaders

29 Shifting the narrative on African migration

31 Celebrating 50 years of biomedical engineering

33 Using a multi-scale approach to better understand Cape Town’s water issues

35 How likely is it for plastic to become pollution?

37 What will it take to establish life on Mars?

39 UCT team and technology help to photograph a black hole

40 UCT’s Global Citizenship Programme

41 Massive funding boost for School of Design Thinking

43 Multimillion Rand injection for Africa medicines research

45 Graduate School of Business launches state-of- the-art conference centre

47 Raising funds to reduce student hunger on campus

49 The Distinguishing UCT endowment campaign draws to a close

53 Leaving a legacy of leadership in Africa

55 UCT alumni pedal from Cairo to Cape Town

57 Summer School joins the Development and Alumni Department

58 New book describes UCT during the apartheid era

59 Alumnus dances down memory lane

61 Emeritus professor of Applied Mathematics awarded renowned international prize

63 Honorary doctorates for five luminaries

67 Paying tribute to the late Oliver Anthony Kuys

69 Lifetime achievement award for efforts to eliminate malaria

70 UCT bids farewell to research stalwart, Dr Marilet Sienaert

71 A tribute to Professor Hugh Corder for three decades of dedicated service

72 Elaine and David Potter awarded VC medals

73 Remembering Pauline Goldberg

75 Reflections from the Alumni Advisory Board

77 Alumni events

81 News from international chapters

83 Fundraising events

87 In memoriam

88 Donations from foundations, trusts and corporations

92 Donations from individuals

96 Contacts and chapters

EditorDr Tali Hoffman

WritersClaire AustinCarla BernardoLisa BoonzaierBrendon BosworthKim CloeteNiémah Davids Frank EinhornDr Tali Hoffman

Elske JoubertNadia KrigeSarah MiddletonAmbre NicolsonYusuf OmarHelen Swingler

PhotographersCaroline BullKim CloeteFrank EinhornBrenton Geach

Tao Farren-HeferMichael HammondDaniel Craig JohnsonCandice LowinLerato MadunaJe’nine MayRoger Sedres

Design and LayoutBanss Design Lab

Produced by theUCT Development and Alumni Department

UCT Alumni news is the annual magazine for UCT Alumni. It is also available online at http://www.alumni.uct.ac.za/news/ourpublications

ALUMNEWS

2019

ALUMNI

UCT GETS A NEW CHANCELLOR


INSPIRING A NEW GENERATION OF

AFRICAN LEADERS

UCT ALUMNI NEWS 2019

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The last time I wrote to you we were living in a different world, and I doubt very much that the world we eventually return to will ever be the same again. Like you, I am living through one of the most epochal events in my lifetime. COVID-19 has not only graphically shown the interconnectedness of the world in which we live but, tragically, has exposed the extreme fragility of our societies, particularly among the most vulnerable in our communities.

A few weeks ago some of you might have joined me in the live conversation with our global alumni. In it you would have learned how your alma mater is marshalling its considerable intellectual resources to fight this coronavirus, particularly in the area of vaccine development, where UCT is part of a global effort to find an antidote for the virus. You would have also been reassured by the concerted efforts that the university is making to ensure that the academic year is completed successfully, especially the support that is being provided for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. You would have been very proud to hear of the work being undertaken to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on our poor, exemplified by SHAWCO’s selfless volunteering in vulnerable communities.

This virus has the potential to ravage our communities. It has already done incalculable harm to our economy, and has disrupted our societies in profound and far-reaching ways. But it has also provided opportunities for us to show our global solidarity, display our common humanity and reimagine the kind of world we want to live in when we emerge on the other side of this crisis.

The tunnel might still seem long, and the light might still be dim, but I have every confidence that with

your support, engagement and generosity we will not only emerge as a different university, but as a better and a stronger one.

As a country we have triumphed over many adversities in our past. Now is the time once again to exhibit that bravery, courage, compassion and boldness of imagination that brought into existence our democracy that is the envy of the world.

Sadly, I also need to say fond farewells to people who have made profound contributions to UCT over the recent years. After two decades of dedicated service our esteemed chancellor, Mama Graça Machel, has had to step down. Her role was critical to UCT transitioning from a university that was mainly for a small minority of our country, to the leading university on the continent for all of our people. We will miss her guiding hand and unique wisdom. But we are fortunate to have found an exceptional new chancellor in Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe, who will bring her own integrity, compassion and acumen to the role.

Mr Sipho Pityana was the chairperson of our council for the past five years. His leadership skills were absolutely indispensable in steering the university through the tumultuous period it recently underwent. We will miss his steady hand, sage counsel and principled guidance.

On your behalf I want to thank both of them for their exceptional service and unwavering loyalty to your alma mater, and to warmly welcome those who will be taking their places as we enter this changed world with its new challenges.

Mamokgethi Phakeng

FROM THE VICE CHANCELLOR OF UCT


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These are extraordinary times. When we were putting together this latest edition of UCT Alumni News we could not imagine that we would be sending it out to you under these circumstances. But it is a testament to the intellectual depth at UCT that, even under these unprecedented conditions, the content of this edition not only remains relevant but also resonates with the challenges that COVID-19 presents to us.

UCT’s standing as Africa’s leading university has put it in prime place to collaborate with the rest of the world to develop a vaccine for this coronavirus. As if to presage this role, you can read about the path-breaking research that Professor Kelly Chibale and his team at the university’s Drug Discovery and Development Centre (H3D) are doing to find new treatments for infectious diseases and train a new generation of African scientists with the pharmaceutical expertise to uncover effective medicines.

Crises like the one we are presently going through invariably expose the faultlines in society. One of these most glaring in our society is gender-based violence.

We are still reeling as a community from the brutal and senseless murder of Uyinene Mrwetyana. Lockdowns, quarantines and curfews will inevitably intensify tensions and exacerbate the dangers to which the most vulnerable amongst us are subjected. You can read about how the university is empowering people to respond to such threats.

Ultimately we can only address the many ills we encounter through building a more inclusive, just, and fair society. There are many articles that focus on what the university is doing to reverse inequality, injustice and poverty that will make you proud of your alma mater.

My hope is that you will find much in this edition of UCT Alumni News that is inspirational, insightful and uplifting during these dark times.

It needs pointing out, however, that very little that the university has been able to achieve would have been possible without your support, goodwill and generosity.

My hope is that you remain engaged to ensure the continued success of this incredible institution.

Russell Ally

FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE DEVELOPMENT AND ALUMNI DEPARTMENT


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The new decade dawned with the appointment of Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe as UCT’s new chancellor. A philanthropist and businesswoman with a passion for empowering Africa’s women, Moloi-Motsepe is a fitting successor to Mrs Graça Machel, who stepped down from her position in December last year, ending her memorable 20-year tenure.

By joining Vice-Chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng at the helm of the university in 2020, Moloi-Motsepe continues and strengthens a trajectory of change, which Machel set in motion in 1999. At that time, Machel joined then Vice-Chancellor Mamphela Ramphela to spearhead the university’s process of transformation in the wake of the fall of apartheid.

With Machel and Ramphela in office at the turn of the century, UCT became the first tertiary institution in the country, and on the continent, to be led by two black women. Machel was the first woman to be appointed chancellor of UCT and the first black person to assume this role.

“This is not a distinction to be taken lightly,” reflected Mr Sipho Pityana, Chair of UCT Council, in his farewell letter to Machel. “The academic sector around the world still proves to be difficult ground for women to break, especially African women.”

NEW CHANCELLOR CONTINUES LEGACY OF WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP AT UCTAs 2019 drew to a close, so did the 20-year era of Mrs Graça Machel as UCT chancellor. In January 2020, the baton was handed to Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe.

Throughout her 20-year tenure, Chancellor Graça Machel advocated for numerous issues of local, regional, and global importance, serving as a strong ambassador for the university’s core values.

With a particular concern for empowering African women to break ground – in business and in life – Moloi-Motsepe is set to be an ambassador for gender equality in the academic world.

Machel’s legacy: taking local and global concerns to heart

After serving two consecutive terms as chancellor, Machel will be remembered for her integrity and a type of leadership that is needed on the global stage, especially in the divisive times that characterise world politics.

“We see many examples of loud leadership, of the old boys club and the glass ceiling. Mrs Machel has shown us that we don’t need to be cowed by the loud voices, or held back by any ceilings. We only need to listen to and act on our conscience, and keep moving forward to accomplish our goals with integrity,” said Pityana.

“Mrs Machel embodies in so many ways the vision of UCT: not to deny our past, or the evils of the present day, but to remember and elevate the symbols of beauty that helped us to change history,” he said. “Most critically, she has called on us to take a stand against the global trends that threaten to divide us. She has built her life into a lasting legacy to help us shape our future.”

Michelle Bachelet to speak out against gender-based violence – an issue she continued to rally against in South Africa, asking all South Africans to take responsibility for making society safer for women and children.

She also spoke out against xenophobia with a reminder that there are four million people in South Africa from African countries without effective democracies and economies, some of whom are persecuted in their countries of origin, as South Africans were during apartheid.

Transformation: complex and ongoingDuring her 20-year commitment to the university, Machel saw

Machel stood with UCT during times of sorrow – most recently in 2019 when the UCT community mourned the loss of murdered first-year student Uyinene Mrwetyana – and during times of celebration, particularly the many graduation ceremonies over which she presided, Pityana noted.

Throughout her tenure, Machel advocated for numerous issues of local, regional, and global importance, serving as a strong ambassador for the university’s core values.

In 2004, for example, she called on members of UCT to raise R175 million to put needy students through university. In 2014, she united with Chilean president

important changes taking place at UCT in line with the country’s socio-economic transformation.

Reflecting on her time as chancellor, she noted that transformation remains challenging and multifaceted but that the institution is making strides in addressing this issue with more work to be done.

“By joining Vice-Chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng at the helm of the university in 2020, Chancellor Precious Moloi-Motsepe continues and strengthens a trajectory of change, which Chancellor Graça Machel set in motion in 1999.”

At the same time, she was also proud of the diversity in gender, background, and age of students that she saw at UCT when officiating final graduation ceremonies.

“This morning I was sitting here and looking at the faces of those people who graduated in health sciences. I could see the transformation we achieved,” she said in reference to


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the final graduation ceremony she presided over in December 2019.

In her farewell letter to the UCT community, Machel said that her time as chancellor was “a deeply gratifying and enriching experience.”

“I am proud of the many contributions we, as Africans, have given to the global academic fraternity and the influential role we play on the continent and in South Africa as a leading university,” she said.

However, she said she wished more progress had been made on “tackling this horrific cancer of gender-based violence.”

Moloi-Motsepe: driving inclusive and sustainable changeMoloi-Motsepe plans to further drive transformation at UCT. With a background in medicine, business, and development, she is a celebrated humanitarian with a track-record of promoting the empowerment of women.

Speaking at her first official UCT engagement, the annual Heads of Mission breakfast in February 2020, Moloi-Motsepe emphasised the need to invest in UCT’s young leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs through an inclusive approach.

“To bring about equality we have to investigate the root causes and invest in a pipeline of diverse, young leaders in areas where their perspective has been lacking,” she said.

To foster this type of inclusive development, UCT has rolled out initiatives like the ‘Vice-Chancellor’s advancing womxn awards.’ First awarded in 2019, these are a set of grants worth R22.5 million over five years, aimed at women and transgender researchers with a focus on building capacity among black South African women.

Moloi-Motsepe also outlined UCT’s role in addressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), the 17 goals that guide global efforts to end poverty, achieve gender equality, take action on climate change, and address other pressing developmental challenges by 2030.

“UCT enables people in the global south, and Africa in particular, to share their own experiences, knowledge and thought leadership to find solutions to these challenges,” she said. “With just one decade left to achieve [these] ambitious SDGs, and the low level of progress around the world on some of the goals, it is clear there’s a need for urgent change in our approaches.”

Empowering Africa to change the worldMoloi-Motsepe has a diverse professional background with an eye for innovation and entrepreneurship. She holds an MBChB and a diploma in child health from the University of the Witwatersrand, as well as a diploma in women’s health from Stellenbosch University. She has worked in hospitals in South Africa as well as at the Medical College of Virginia in the USA.

In 1999, she and her husband, Patrice Motsepe, co-founded the Motsepe Foundation. Underpinned by the concept of ubuntu – caring for one’s neighbours and community – the Foundation works with 26 development fora across South Africa to reduce poverty through initiatives that promote education, job creation, and address inequality, especially in marginalised communities. The foundation has a focus on women’s empowerment. It promotes education for girls and women in STEM (Science, Technology, Education, and Mathematics) in order to broaden career opportunities in these fields for South Africa’s women.

In January 2020, Precious Moloi-Mostepe took over the reins as the Chancellor of UCT.

Moloi-Motsepe is a well-known fashion icon, lauded for her efforts promoting African designers and brands on the international stage. In 2007, she founded African Fashion International with a mission to consolidate the continent’s fragmented fashion and clothing industry to make it sustainable and commercially viable. In 2017, she received the inaugural Franca Sozzani Award from Fashion 4 Development, an international private sector platform that “activates partnerships that promote the fashion and textile industry, advance economic and social development, preserve culture and empower women, according to its website.

She is the author of ‘The Precious Little Black Book’ (2017). This guide for South African women informs readers about women’s health, rights, economic empowerment, and legal and social issues. She has also produced the Gender Responsive Budgeting Initiative, which aims to strengthen the gender-related dimensions of provincial plans and budgets.

Her professional associations include the Harvard Kennedy School’s Centre for Public Leadership Council and Women’s Leadership Board, the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council, and the Cancer Association of South Africa (past president).

Taking on her new role at UCT, Moloi-Motsepe made clear that she will continue to push for innovation on the continent.

“The role of Africa in the global landscape is changing. We continue to have many needs but we’re also eager to create African-based solutions to our local problems,” she said at the annual Heads of Mission breakfast. “By helping to empower UCT, we empower Africa, and we provide opportunities to change the world.”


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The list includes powerful student protests, horrific instances of gender-based violence, critical questions of how to transform the institution and who should lead, all the while pursuing academic excellence and maintaining academic freedom.

Pityana described how the council had to figure out how to get through these tumultuous times in a united, open-minded and constructive way. But above all, he expressed the need for UCT to better understand, articulate and embrace a new identity.

Learning from Rhodes Must Fall and Fees Must FallThe Rhodes Must Fall and Fees Must Fall student movements were “quite defining in terms of the politics of transformation, not just for the institution but for the country,” Pityana explained. “Looking at it from the outside in, it was a moment that really brought to bear the politics of race and class.”

These movements strongly condemned the continuation of an oppressive, colonial past, he added. “There was a lot that was oppositional, and [this set] an agenda that began to raise questions of identity, about who we are as a university in a free South Africa.”

The UCT council focused on understanding and interrogating what these questions mean for the university going forward.

“If we are not that, then who are we at UCT?” he said. “So when the university removes paintings, and changes names of buildings, what do we replace them with?”

Pityana added that the protests at UCT had national significance: they raised “questions beyond the rhetoric of rainbowism, because the symbols that the movement was rejecting are abundant all over South Africa.”

What does this mean for transformation at UCT? Pityana described how dealing with questions of transformation in the moment was only half the challenge: implementing changes that truly alter the status quo is a much more formidable task for the council specifically and the institution generally.

By way of example, he posed these questions: “Is the university, in driving the agenda for racial and gender diversification, prepared for what follows? It’s one thing to improve access, but it’s quite another to change the culture of the place and develop and support social relations that embrace diversity.”

He explained how making actual changes to UCT culture could drive transformation.

“I imagined, when I came to UCT, that it’s a cutting-edge institution that everybody wants to come to. But I’ve since spoken to people who feel that UCT is not the place for them. So, perceived or real, UCT has a lot of selling to do.”

While acknowledging the challenges of transformation, and the work that still needs to be done, Pityana also celebrated what UCT does have, speaking of the institute’s academic excellence, applauding the relevance of UCT’s work to development challenges, and describing institutional leaders who care as deeply about the students they mentor as they do about the professional and institutional targets that they need to meet.

‘Unfinished business’

With his tenure coming to an end in a few months’ time, Pityana expressed regret that he would not be directly working to transform UCT.

But he advises the next UCT council and its new chairperson to focus on truly understanding and articulating UCT’s identity, by asking questions like: What does our identity mean for the values we hold, the way we engage with one another, and the work we do as an institution? How can our efforts to transform UCT focus not only on names, numbers and curricula, but on our culture and humanness?

With his new appointment as co-chair of the World Economic Forum’s prestigious new Africa Regional Stewardship Boardtask, along with his ongoing private and public sector work, Pityana plans to continue to challenge, champion, and drive positive change.

SIPHO PITYANA REFLECTS ON HIS TIME AS CHAIR OF THE UCT COUNCILIn June 2020, Sipho Pityana’s tenure as UCT Council chair comes to an end. In an interview with Alumni News, Pityana reflected on some of the complex issues that the institution has faced over the past four years.

Mr Sipho Pityana, speaking here at a graduation ceremony, was the chair of the UCT council from 2016-2020.


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“It is encouraging to see UCT demonstrate such excellence in international rankings,” said UCT Vice-Chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, “particularly given the incredibly competitive, global arena we operate in and the enormous challenges we face in

our teaching and learning and our research are of the highest standards.”

Published once a year, the THE World University Rankings assess almost 1,400 institutions worldwide using 13 performance indicators that are grouped into five areas: teaching (30%), research (30%), citations (30%), international outlook (7.5%) and industry income (2.5%).

In the area of teaching, UCT scores increased, with the university moving up 35 places.

terms of declining national funding and the imperative to transform our institution.”

Phakeng added that “as a university, we continue to view university rankings with caution. Because they attempt to compare

In the research category, UCT ranked 177th globally, and its research reputation survey score, which is part of this category, increased once again. This is clear evidence of UCT’s growing reputation among leading international academics.

universities that exist in a range of contexts – cultural, financial, historical, social and political. Rankings are inherently imperfect, particularly when it comes to developing countries. Despite this, UCT’s performance helps to reinforce the message that

UCT’s citations score, which measures the number of times a piece of research is cited, also improved, with the university moving up 35 places to rank 121st globally.

UCT’s strongest performance remains in the industry income category, in which it ranked 78th despite dropping 18 places. This reflects the large contribution of the university’s research to industry.

200 most international universities

UCT has also been ranked 39th – tied with the California Institute of Technology – in the recently-released THE list of the 200 most international universities. These institutions are distinguished in that they collaborate on research across the world, have a strong reputation globally and have a high proportion of international students and staff.

The 10 most international universities – led by City University of Hong Kong (1st) and University of Hong Kong (2nd) – all came from four countries: Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

“UCT strives to foster international collaboration across Africa and the rest of the world. Although our primary mission is always to serve our country and local context first, we cannot achieve our ambitious research objectives and solve the continent’s complex problems without extensive global collaboration and cross-pollination.” says Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Internationalisation, Professor Sue Harrison.

These rankings mean that UCT remains in the lead for Africa in the five major world university rankings: THE 2020, Academic Ranking of World Universities 2019, Quacquarelli Symonds 2020, US News Best Global Universities 2020, Center for World University Rankings 2019-2020, and Academic Ranking of World Universities 2019.

UCT LEAPS UP IN WORLD RANKINGSUCT has jumped up 20 places to 136th position in the latest 2020 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, putting UCT in the top spot in the country, as well as in Africa.

UCT has jumped up 20 places to 136th position in the latest 2020 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings.

“UCT remains in the lead for Africa in the five major world university rankings.”


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Silent protestThe #JustNo campaign started with a silent protest on the 2nd of August 2019 during which students and staff – led by Vice-Chancellor Mamokgethi Phakeng and Deputy Vice-Chancellor for transformation Professor Loretta Feris – showed solidarity with victims of GBV in order to help break the cycle of sexual violence and to communicate a single message: “Enough is enough”.

Addressing a packed Sarah Baartman Hall before the protest, Phakeng said: “We are gathered here for a tragic reason. A reason that should not exist, not at the University of Cape Town, not in South Africa, not anywhere in the world. Gender-based violence and rape culture do not belong here.”

She added that the protest aimed to reclaim GBV survivors’ freedom, and said she hoped it would build a new culture at the university and in the country; a culture that fosters respect, trust and love.

“We want to build a culture where our bodies, our sexualities and our identities are respected, a culture where we don’t have to be afraid to walk where we want to walk and to wear what we want to wear.”

After Phakeng’s address, and in an act of solidarity with survivors of sexual violence and all those suffering in silence, protesters taped their mouths shut and marched silently in a circular route around campus. The symbolic gesture demonstrated abhorrence of GBV, and the silence was a form of civil disobedience and nonviolent resistance.

When the protestors returned to the steps below Sarah Baartman Hall, they participated in a ‘die-in’ – another form of protest where participants lie down and simulate death. This act commemorated those who have lost their lives through sexual violence. Thereafter, they removed the tape from their mouths and broke the silence, crying out in unity.

Mourning Uyinene MrwetyanaIt was later that same month that Uyinene ‘Nene’ Mrwetyana, a first-year UCT student, was brutally raped and murdered at a Cape Town post office. A mass outcry against the normative violence perpetrated against women brought communities out in force in the days that followed, and over a week of mourning UCT held night vigils, prayer services and a memorial.

During the memorial service on the 4th of September, joined by Nene’s family and many dignitaries, thousands of UCT students and staff gathered on the steps and plaza below Sarah Baartman Hall to pay a sombre farewell to Nene.

During the latter half of 2019, UCT ran a campus-wide #JustNo campaign to raise awareness about gender-based violence (GBV), rape and other violent sexual crimes that continue to plague UCT, South Africa and the world at large. It was during this time that the violent rape and murder of UCT student Uyinene Mrwetyana ignited anger across the country, and further united the UCT community in outrage.


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Speaking to the mourners, Chancellor Graça Machel, said: “South Africa is a wounded nation, and its people carry with them deep pain and extreme anger. Something is deeply wrong with our society, and we need to get to the root cause of how and why we got to where we are today.”

Machel called on UCT’s academics to join hands with those from other institutions to interrogate the causes of the GBV scourge, and find a way to end it.

March to ParliamentFollowing the memorial, outraged and devastated staff and students, along with members of the public, marched to Parliament to call for an end to sexual and GBV.

Addressing the crowd at the picket, Phakeng said: “The passing of Nene has reminded us of how unsafe our streets are ... We want you to stand with us and join us in saying, ‘Enough is enough!’ We do not want to bury more women.”

She added: “In 1994, when we voted, we thought we were voting for our liberation. It seems like we went into another form of bondage. We do not want that. We want our freedom back. And we want our politicians to hear us.”

Scholarship for NeneUCT will continue to honour Nene through a scholarship in her name. Speaking at Nene’s funeral, Phakeng announced the new Uyinene Mrwetyana Scholarship for Womxn in the Humanities. The scholarship will fully fund a student from their first year of study through to graduation.

“Uyinene’s academic aspirations were cruelly ended,” said Dr Russell Ally, executive director of the Development and Alumni Department. “Through this scholarship, we want to keep her memory alive and retain the

momentum to extinguish GBV and the patriarchal systems that enable it.”

We can all be part of the solutionThe #JustNo campaign culminated in 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children in late 2019, during which Phakeng urged UCT students and staff to take action against all forms of GBV.

“As our Chancellor, Graça Machel, reminded us, outrage is not enough: we need to take constructive action...every day,” Phakeng said.

She challenged men in particular to commit to changes in behaviour and attitudes that contribute to GBV. Citing a 2017 report jointly produced by UCT’s Safety and Violence Initiative (SaVI) and the Department of Social Development, she encouraged men and older boys to become actively involved in advocating for gender equality and preventing GBV through participation in projects such as the One Man Can initiative, and in online knowledge sharing and networking portals, such as Safer Spaces.

Phakeng also encouraged all individuaIs to initiate change against GBV in any way that is positive and builds community, for instance by seeking counselling, reporting incidences of GBV – even those that happened long ago, or helping to organise campaigns to confront patterns of male behaviour that can lead to GBV.

“GBV is a crisis that calls on each of us to respond, to bring change into our communities, our society and the way we relate to each other in personal relationships. I believe in the power of UCT students and staff members to bring this kind of change.”

1. As part of UCT’s #JustNO campaign in August 2019, protestors participated in a ‘die-in’ – a form of protest where participants lie down and simulate death.

2. Protesters taped their mouths shut to symbolise the silence around the scourge of gender-based violence.

3-4: Hundreds of UCT staff and students, led by Vice-Chancellor Mamokgethi Phakeng and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Transformation) Loretta Feris, carried the message that UCT will not tolerate gender-based violence and rape culture.

5. In September 2019, the violent rape and murder of UCT student Uyinene ‘Nene’ Mrwetyana ignited anger across the country, and further united the UCT community in outrage. UCT will honour Nene through a scholarship in her name.

6-9. Thousands of UCT students and staff, along with family members and dignitaries, gathered on the steps and plaza below Sarah Baartman Hall to pay a sombre farewell to the 19-year old film and media studies student.

10-11. Following the memorial service for Uyinene Mrwetyana, outraged and devastated staff and students, led by Vice-Chancellor Mamogkethi Phakeng and joined by members of the public, marched to Parliament to call for an end to sexual and gender-based violence.

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NEW APPOINTMENTSDEAN OF LAW: PROFESSOR DANWOOD MZIKENGE CHIRWA

Professor Danwood Mzikenge Chirwa was appointed as Dean of UCT’s Faculty of Law in January 2019. Over the last 14 years, Chirwa has taught Administrative Law, International Human Rights, Children’s Rights, and Constitutional Law. He has played a key role in curriculum development and the administration of the human rights postgraduate programmes and has gained considerable experience as a postgraduate supervisor at both the LLM and doctoral levels.

Rated by the National Research Foundation as an internationally acclaimed researcher (B3), Chirwa’s research has largely focused on normative frameworks and institutional mechanisms for the protection of the rights of vulnerable groups such as the poor and children. Chirwa has served the faculty and university in various capacities including as Acting Dean of the Faculty of Law, and Head of the Department of Public Law. He holds a PhD from the University of the Western Cape, an LLM from the University of Pretoria, and an LLB (Hons) from the University of Malawi..

DEAN OF HEALTH SCIENCES: ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR LIONEL GREEN-THOMPSON

Associate Professor Lionel Green-Thompson became the new Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences in March 2020. He was previously Dean at the School of Medicine at the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University in Gauteng, and held multiple roles at the University of the Witwatersrand, including Assistant Dean for Teaching, Learning and Undergraduate Affairs in the Faculty of Health Sciences, and clinical coordinator for the MBBCh degree in the Centre for Health Science Education. He also engaged in numerous student development initiatives, including the supervision of MMed (Anaesthesia) students.

Green-Thompson is a Fellow of the College of Anaesthetists of the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa. He is a member of the Research Committee of the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) and the current chair of their grant network for Medical Education in Resource Constrained Situations (MERCS), is on the board of directors of The Network - Towards Unity for Health. He has published both nationally and internationally and reviews for academic journals.

DEPUTY VICE-CHANCELLOR FOR RESEARCH AND INTERNATIONALISATION: PROFESSOR SUE HARRISON

Professor Sue Harrison became the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Internationalisation in August 2019. Her appointment into this position is significant for UCT as it means that all four executive leaders of the academic enterprise at UCT are now women.

Harrison has worked within the bioprocess engineering sub-discipline of chemical engineering for about 30 years. After obtaining her PhD in the field of chemical engineering at Cambridge University in 1990, she moved through the early phases of academia to become a head of department and professor at a young age.

Harrison was awarded the SARChI chair and established the globally-recognised Centre for Bioprocessing Engineering Research in 2001. Ten years later she was appointed as deputy dean of research and postgraduate studies in the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, and focused on establishing interdisciplinary research entities at UCT, including the Future Water Institute.

She received the Department of Science and Technology’s national award as Distinguished Woman Scientist in 2007 and the National Science and Technology Forum’s NSTF-South32 accolade for research and engineering capacity development in 2016. She is a fellow of UCT and the South African Academy of Engineering.


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DEAN OF HUMANITIES: ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR SHOSE KESSI

Associate Professor Shose Kessi was appointed as the dean of Humanities in November 2019, bringing with her a wealth of institutional knowledge and experience. Since joining UCT in 2011 in the Department of Psychology, she has been appointed chair of the Humanities Transformation Committee in 2016 and deputy dean for Transformation in the faculty in 2018. She was appointed to the Special Executive Task Team in 2016 and the University Strategy Forum a year later. She is also the founder and first chairperson of the UCT Black Academic Caucus.

Kessi’s research centres on political psychology, decoloniality, community-based empowerment and social change. She explores issues of identity, such as race, class and gender, and how these impact on people – individually and collectively – as change agents in transformation efforts. She is the co-founder and co-director of the Hub for Decolonial Feminist Psychologies in Africa, an emerging research grouping that is gaining traction within and outside the university. Before joining UCT, she worked in the development sector in the area of reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, development finance, and programme evaluation.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF LIBRARIES: UJALA SATGOOR

Ujala Satgoor became the new executive director of Libraries in January 2019, bringing years of experience in the higher education environment. She was previously the director of library services at Rhodes University, and the deputy director of library services at the University of Pretoria. She holds a master’s degree in information technology, and a postgraduate diploma in library and information science.

Satgoor’s leadership ability makes her ideal for this role. She is currently the chair of the Committee of Higher Education Libraries of South Africa (CHELSA), deputy chair of the South African National Library and Information Consortium (SANLiC), chair of the Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA) Professional Body Advisory Committee, and a member of the Council on Higher Education Reference Group: Library and Information Science. She is also the former president of LIASA (2012–14).

DIRECTOR OF THE NELSON MANDELA SCHOOL OF PUBLIC GOVERNANCE: PROFESSOR FAIZEL ISMAIL

The Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance appointed Professor Faizel Ismail as new director designate of the school in July 2019. Ismail is a respected academic and experienced international trade negotiator. He completed a BA and an LLB degree from the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, an MPhil degree in Development Studies from the Institute of Development Studies at Sussex University, and a PhD in Politics from the University of Manchester. He is a professor in the UCT School of Economics, and in the Faculty of Law.

Ismail is a global expert on development issues, having published several books on trade and development, and having negotiated major agreements, including the Southern African Customs Union and the Trade and Development Agreement with the European Union. He has been South Africa’s Ambassador to the World Trade Organisation for 10 years, and senior adviser to the Minister of Trade and Industry. He served as the chairperson of the International Trade and Administration Commission (ITAC) from 2015 to 2018 and has been re-appointed for a five-year term (2018-2023). Ismail is committed to making his future contributions at UCT.


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FIRST KHOEKHOEGOWAB LANGUAGE COURSE COHORT HONOURED

It was a time of celebration as UCT

drew the curtain on its maiden

Khoekhoegowab language short

course. The project goes down

in history as a successful attempt

by the institution to correct some of the

injustices of the past.

In November 2019, 77 course participants comprising staff and students at UCT and members of the West Coast community, took to the podium to receive their certificates of participation in the indigenous Khoe language short course – a first of its kind for a South African university.

The 12-week courses, held four times during the year, were co-convened by the /Xarra Restorative Justice Forum in UCT’s Centre for African Studies, and the Centre for Extra-Mural Studies. The programme has received the full support of the university’s Multilingual Education Project (MEP), with funding coming from the Mauerberger Foundation Fund and the Vice-Chancellor’s Strategic Fund.

With only 167,000 speakers remaining, Khoekhoegowab is considered to be one of the continent’s many endangered indigenous languages. Spoken by the Nama, Damara and Haillom ethnic groups, who live mainly in the Northern Cape and Namibia, the language was decimated by years of colonialism.

Historic chapterProfessor Shahid Vawda, who holds the Archie Mafeje Chair in

Critical Humanities and Decolonial Studies, as well as the directorship of the School of African and Gender Studies, Anthropology and Linguistics in UCT’s Faculty of Humanities, described the occasion as historic.

He said the short course forms a broader part of the university’s transformation agenda and demonstrates its continued commitment to driving inclusivity, diversity and transformation on campus.

“We are restoring some of the injustices of the past,” Vawda said.

UCT cannot change that the institution was built on land previously inhabited by the indigenous Khoe people. But thousands of years later, by introducing this short course, and educating participants on the language of the Khoe people, the institution can begin to correct a past wrong.

The culmination of the course was a fitting end to the United Nations (UN) Year of Indigenous Languages. The UN dedicated 2019 to raising awareness on the fragility of many languages and to establish parallels between language, development, peace and reconciliation.

Khoe activist Bradley van Sitters performs a cleansing ceremony before the start of UCT’s inaugural Khoekhoegowab language short course in June 2019.

“I am extremely grateful to be the face of a whole team’s efforts and constant dedication to performance,” enthused Mhlongo, who was born with amniotic band syndrome that resulted in club foot and his right leg being shorter than his left.

“This achievement is for the approximately 80 million people living with a disability in Africa. To know that your past does not dictate your future is a powerful tool when it’s matched with hard work and consistency.”

He added, “I am [most] grateful for being able to perform and, in doing so, pave the way forward for those coming after me. The support from back home and around the world [was] overwhelming.”

Mhlongo’s coach, Jason Sewanyana, said he is incredibly privileged to be able to work with such a talented athlete.

“He broke his own world record three times in 2019 and still keeps working hard to take the record into realms unheard of for T44 athletes. His achievements and accolades are well deserved because he is dedicated to his craft.”

Mhlongo, who excels in 100m, 200m and long jump events, was named 2019 Sportsperson of the Year in October 2019, at UCT’s annual sports awards dinner. He is the first student to win this coveted award for the fifth consecutive year. The only other person to win the Jamison Cup in consecutive years is rugby great HO de Villiers, who took top honours in 1966 and 1967.

Accepting his award, PhD candidate Mhlongo thanked the team around him, the university and his sporting peers. He said it was an honour to stand next to Hayley Preen, Nepo Serage, Nicholas Papas and Liam Neill, all finalists in the Sportsperson of the Year category.

“I feel pretty inspired by what everyone is doing,” he said.

Mhlongo is currently training for the World Championships and 2020 Paralympic Games.

MPUMELELO MHLONGO MAKES HISTORY FOR UCT SPORTIn November 2019 UCT star sprinter Mpumelelo Mhlongo broke his own world record at the World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai, coming second in the 100m combined T64 and T44 class final, with a time of 11.09 seconds.

Mpumelelo Mhlongo has been named UCT Sportsperson of the year for five consecutive years.

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The event served several purposes, said committee chairperson Associate Professor Jay Pather. This included the re-opening of the exhibition space, showcasing the exquisite work done by students and introducing the UCT community to the new works that the university had acquired. Referring to the discourse around art on campus in recent years, Pather said that the WOAC was working to balance and find new ways to curate artworks to make the university space a public space.

Many of the complaints around art at the university coalesce around issues of racial representation in art, and the perceived need for transformation in UCT’s curatorial policies. The university received further criticism for allowing the removal or concealment of certain artworks. “Balancing the collection

is indeed not just recognition [of the artists] but understanding what the rest of the world is seeing, in terms of black artists and especially black women artists.” said Pather.

The WOAC, he explained, had been “trying to find a connection that adequately reflects what is happening in our country and meeting the changing demographics of our university community.” He added, “what we have done as a committee is develop strong student and staff representation.”

Chairperson of the WOAC Dr Nomusa Makhubu said: “When the WOAC was constituted in 2016, we realised that the artworks that we see around us are not just there. The spaces that we use, we don’t just use them to learn … we also feel them. It’s ... a particular kind of public space.”

The WOAC has thus been responding to the need for a curatorial policy that reflects

the affective element of public spaces. “In that curatorial policy we began to think about strategies of reshaping the spaces collectively,” said Makhubu.

“In many cases, wherever we have a re-curation, there is a lot of consultation and talking with the people who will use those spaces. And this, of course, has been very effective in creating the kinds of spaces that make us all feel at home.”

The exhibition space was opened with a cleansing ritual curated by Mandla Mbothwe. Various dance pieces followed, by Nasfa Ncanywa, Xolani Maxwell Rani, Sonwabile Qamoyi, Ngobunono Mtshabe and Miliswa Mbandazayo.

The university’s new acquisitions include works by artists including Colbert Mashile, Sethembile Msezane, Aida Muluneh, Quaid Henneke, Nobukho Nqaba, Adolf Tega, Goldendean, Banele Khoza, Buhlebezwe Siwani, Yonela Makoba and Thania Petersen.

Blackburn’s daughter Gillian Cox, who attended the event, presented a tribute to her mother and her legacy as an anti-apartheid activist.

RETHINKING ART AT UCTThe Molly Blackburn Hall exhibition space reopened in September 2019 with a programme of performances and talks called “Rethinking Art at UCT”, hosted by UCT’s Works of Art Committee (WOAC).

Celebratory performances

marked the reopening of the Molly Blackburn exhibition space

on campus.

UCT students added to the occasion with a celebration of performance art in the Sarah Baartman Hall.

Live performances transform and bring to life old spaces.


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Mvelo Hlophe and Denislav Marinov emerged top of their respective categories while Tamir Shklaz received a runner-up award in his category. The judges also named Hlophe as the overall winner of the competition.

UCT Vice-Chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, who attended the event, congratulated the students on a “great job” and on making the campus community proud.

A total of 26 universities and 1155 “studentrepreneurs” from across the country participated in the regional rounds of the competition ahead of the final round which took place in Johannesburg. Finalists were given just three minutes to pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges.

The competition aims to identify the top student entrepreneurs at each of South Africa’s public universities, to recognise and showcase their businesses, and to attract investment into their enterprises. It also provides a chance for aspiring entrepreneurs to pitch their business concepts.

Marinov topped the Existing Business: Tech category with his business, DMV Designs, that proposes using 3D educational printers to provide an integrated, problem-solving approach to teaching.

Hlope’s initiative, called Zaio at the time, topped the Existing Business: Social Impact category. Hlope’s idea is to develop a gamified platform that offers open-access learning journeys to students wanting to become upper-end software developers.

Shklaz received the runner-up prize in the Existing Business: Tech category, for his digital one-stop-shop, Quillo, that allows students to buy and sell old textbooks online at an affordable price.

Nadia Waggie, head of operations for UCT’s Careers Service and the university’s Entrepreneurship Intervarsity liaison officer, said the runner-up award was decided on the night of the finals “because the judges simply could not ignore how brilliant Shklaz’s pitch was”.

“Careers Service is proud to be able to assist the studentrepreneurs on their entrepreneurial journey. We look forward to continuing this journey with our students,” she said.

The intervarsity is an initiative of the Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education (EDHE) programme in the Department of Higher Education and Training, and Universities South Africa, and is supported by the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation, University Capacity Development Programme and SAB Foundation. The Western Cape regional rounds were hosted by UCT Careers Service.

Linda Dhladhla, youth and communication liaison for EDHE, described Marinov and Hlophe as an inspiration to aspiring entrepreneurs in the UCT community, and South Africa as a whole. “They put hours of hard work into preparing for this competition and an equal amount of hard work into establishing their businesses. We are very proud of them for making it this far”. Their category prize was R10,000 each, and the funds will be pumped back into their businesses. Since Hlope also won the overall title, he received an additional R50,000.

“We’re hoping that this win will provide them with the stepping stone they need to grow and develop their businesses,” said Dhladhla. “And most importantly, we really want them to continue inspiring other students to pursue entrepreneurship.”

UCT STUDENT ENTREPRENEURS NAMED TOP IN SOUTH AFRICAUCT was named the

winning university in the 2019

Entrepreneurship Intervarsity, thanks

largely to three innovative students

whose out-of-the-box business

ideas bowled over the competition’s

judges.

Mvelo Hlophe, whose initiative Zaio won him the overall prize, presents details of the gamified platform during one of the regional rounds at UCT earlier in 2019.


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Nelson Mandela preferred that his memory be honored not with statues or monuments, but with living institutions that represent and reproduce the values for which he stood.

As a Living Memorial to Mandela, the Mandela School – which is an expansion of the Graduate School of Development Policy and Practice – focuses on developing strategic public leadership, placing a strong emphasis on public sector reform, accountability, and trust in governance. It provides professional and academic training, and discussion fora for senior public officials and those engaged in public policy in South Africa, Africa and globally.

Building Bridges

One of the Mandela School’s core activities is bringing together policy makers, experts and other leaders in society around key policy issues. The centrepiece of this effort is the Building Bridges programme which brings together established and rising leaders from all over Africa to engage with intractable problems with the view to establishing new networks of expertise and trust. In 2019, Building Bridges celebrated its first 100+ fellows of the ‘Leading in Public Life: Emerging African Leaders Programme’.

Building Bridges also hosted the ‘Leading in Public Life: Women, Influence, and Power Programme’, with 20 women leaders from six African countries. Aimed at mid-career African women working in the legal sector, the programme strives to promote the inclusion of women with legal training in public leadership positions.

A leadership boostThe leadership of the Mandela School has also been bolstered. In July 2019, Professor Faizel Ismail was appointed the new director, and later in the year Dr Shanil Haricharan was appointed as the new academic director. Advocate Vusi Pikoli and Dr Ian Goldman joined the school as adjunct professors, and Dr Maria Phalime and David Schmidt as adjunct senior lecturers. The School also welcomed Dr Carlos Lopes, the former executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and one of the continent’s leading development economists, as an honorary professor.

Professor Alan Hirsch, the school’s founding director, was also invited into the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC). Announced during President Cyril Ramaphosa’s 2018 State of the Nation Address, the PEAC aims to generate new ideas for economic growth, job creation and addressing poverty. On the establishment of this unit, President Ramaphosa said: “It will draw on the expertise and capabilities that reside in labour, business, civil society and academia.”

Professor Hirsch will serve on the PEAC alongside Professor Haroon Bhorat, professor of Economics in UCT’s School of Economics, and director of UCT’s Development Policy Research Unit.

The Mandela School’s Professor Alison Gillwald was also named as the first African executive member and deputy president of the Global Internet Governance Academic Network (GigaNet).

As part of the School’s commitment to knowledge sharing, 2019 saw the development of partnerships with various organisations, such as the Kofi Annan Foundation, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), African Union’s African Peer Review Mechanism Secretariat (APRM), and the Auditor General - South Africa.

Finally, in 2019 the school celebrated its largest graduate cohort, with 14 students receiving their Masters in Development Policy and Practice, 11 receiving Masters of Philosophy in Development

Policy and Practice, and one receiving a postgraduate diploma. For the first time, the school also held a full-time master’s semester course – the Practice of Policy Making and Implementation – which brought together international students from politics, economics, environmental humanities, philosophy, and sociology.

These achievements help to underscore why Vice-Chancellor Mamokgethi Phakeng, speaking at the school’s launch in 2018, said:

“It’s a flagship centre. Not just for scholarship, but in how scholarship can shape what the continent becomes”.

In order to operate at full capacity, the Mandela School requires a building to house the school, a centre of memory for Nelson Mandela, and a 250-seat conference centre. The school has been working with the Development and Alumni Department at UCT to raise the US$35 million it needs to fund this construction, and to date has secured nearly US$27 million towards this goal – primarily through a sizeable grant from Atlantic Philanthropies (for the sum of US$21.5 million), as well as through significant donor and alumni

support. However, a shortfall of US$8 million remains. Should you wish to support the school, please send your donations to:

Bank: Standard BankAccount name: UCT DonationsAccount Number: 071522387Account Type: Business Current AccountBranch: Rondebosch, 025009Swift Address: SBZA ZA JJReference (very important): Donor name & NMS

INSPIRING AND CONNECTING A NEW GENERATION OF AFRICAN LEADERSUCT’s Nelson Mandela Memorial and School of Public Governance is a multi-disciplinary centre that conducts teaching and research on inclusive accountable governance and development. In 2019, the school took great strides forward in terms of growing its leadership, expanding its network of partners, and training the next generation of African leaders.

Dr Carlos Lopes, the former executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and one of the continent’s leading development economists.

The newly appointed Mandela School Academic Director, Dr Shanil Haricharan.


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“What is the fixation on Africa?”When Lopes joined the Mandela School, Professor Alan Hirsch, founding director, welcomed him by saying, “Dr Lopes has helped to turn around the negative perceptions of African prospects which have prevailed since the 16th Century, while retaining a deep understanding of the challenges which face us.”

Lopes’ work with Hirsch on the role of narratives in Africa, and the research he completed for his newest book, Africa in Transformation: Economic Development in the Age of Doubt, have led him to his current

focus on the place of African migration in narratives about the continent.

Speaking at UCT’s Africa Day Symposium in May 2019, Lopes cut through the bias around migrant statistics to show that Africa produces only 14% of the world’s migrants, compared to Europe’s 24% and Asia’s 41%.

He said that erroneous perceptions about African migration may well be linked to the strong global focus on the youth bulge in Africa. The adaptability and ambition of this cohort is seen as threatening, and can cause countries to disallow Africans from migrating through their borders.

my mind my most rewarding role and another piece of good fortune was to work as political director to Kofi Annan, who was my mentor and also my friend.”

Lopes describes his time working with Annan as akin to returning to university. “He was a remarkable man. His level of tact and diplomacy, his ability to arouse empathy and his keen emotional intelligence was astounding,” explains Lopes. “If I had learned a continental perspective from Mário de Andrade, from Kofi Annan I learned to see on a global scale.”

Mandela SchoolLopes is proud to expand his focus on African migration through his honorary professorship at UCT.

“I am excited to be able to engage with what I consider to be an essential part of the development future for the continent, and to do it from a school such as the Mandela School which is truly inclusive and pan-African.”

“That is particularly true with Europe,” he said. Yet, contrary to popular belief, the African continent, excluding Egypt, is not the geographical area that produces the highest number of migrants moving in the direction of Europe. China, a country with a population size equivalent to Africa’s, is thought to produce twice the number of migrants heading in the same direction.

“Nobody mentions this,” Lopes explained. “It’s also not stressed enough that only 6% of Africans who migrate to Europe go there illegally; 94% go there legally”.

Lopes explained the importance of changing these perceptions: “There are a number of phenomena that will increase mobility and provoke emigration from Africa in the near future, such as mass urbanisation and youthful populations. If we don’t correct perspectives about African migration, it will only aggravate the misunderstandings.”

An activist father and a pan-Africanist intellectualLopes was born in Canchungo, a small town in north-western Guinea Bissau. His father was imprisoned for his role in the liberation struggle, and Lopes was inspired by his idealism. By the time he was 17 years old he was working as an aide to a man who was to change his life: Mário de Andrade, the first president of the Angolan MPLA (People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola) who had become a dissident living in Bissau at the time.

Mário encouraged Lopes to read widely about Africa, and led to him developing his pan-Africanist perspectives. Eventually, thanks to Andrade’s network, Lopes won a fellowship to study abroad, first economics in Geneva and later to complete a PhD in history at Paris-Sorbonne University.

A rock star of diplomacyOver the next three decades Lopes worked his way up the ladder of the United Nations.

“I led a great many institutions during my time at the UN, but to

Dr Carlos Lopes, former executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and one of the continent’s leading development economists, is now also an honorary professor at the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance at UCT.

SHIFTING THE NARRATIVE ON AFRICAN MIGRATION

“I am excited to be able to engage with what I consider to be an essential part of the development future for the continent, and to do it from a school such as the Mandela School which is truly inclusive and pan-African.”

A panel of academic experts discuss African integration and the free movement of people during the UCT Africa Day Symposium in May 2019, hosted by the University of Cape Town in collaboration with the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).

Dr Carlos Lopes, previous political director to Kofi Annan and a staunch pan-Africanist, is now an honorary professor at UCT’s Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance.


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The Division of Biomedical Engineering, hosted by UCT’s Department of Human Biology, conducts basic and translational research in biomedical engineering, medical imaging, biomechanics, mechanobiology, health innovation and healthcare technology. All research is focused on the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and management of diseases and healthcare problems, including trauma, cancer, tuberculosis, cardiovascular diseases, brain and neuromuscular disorders, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), and alcohol abuse.

For five decades the division has built on the scholarship and work of notable academics, innovators and influencers. The most celebrated of these is UCT physicist and Nobel laureate Dr Allan MacLeod Cormack who, along with Godfrey Hounsfield, won the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work

on computerised tomography (CT scans).

This cutting-edge work has continued over the decades, and the division is now led by a team of enthusiastic and visionary researchers who hold South African research chairs in Brain Imaging, Biomedical Engineering and Innovation, sit on ministerial advisory committees, and run world-class medical research facilities.

Finding innovative solutions

In all of their work, the team members strive to address South African and African problems, and work in transdisciplinary collaborations, including with medical practitioners, to develop innovative medical devices with applications covering everything from stroke rehabilitation and asthma therapy to childhood medicine and joint surgery.

“The cross-disciplinary nature of the division is something many aspire to and don’t achieve,” said Professor Carolyn Williamson, interim dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, speaking at the division’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

In their work on Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), the team has made great strides in developing technologies that can greatly improve the ability to scan the bodies of young and restless subjects. They have also been instrumental in establishing the Cape Universities Body Imaging Centre (CUBIC), the first research-dedicated MRI facility in Africa.

Much of the division’s work has the potential to significantly impact public health. For example, their research on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders has shown that giving choline supplements to heavy-drinking pregnant women may

mitigate some of the damaging effects on the growing fetus.

Division alumni Gokul Nair and Giancarlo Beukes, founders of Impulse Biomedical, have also developed two low-cost solutions that help people administer medication more easily. The first is the ZiBiPen, the world’s only reloadable adrenaline auto-injector pen that treats life-threatening severe allergic reactions at a fraction of the cost of the dominant device on the market. The second is the Easy Squeezy, an attachment sleeve that fits over a standard asthma inhaler, and helps those who can’t apply the force needed to activate a regular inhaler, like elderly and young asthma sufferers.

Capacity building and educationThe division also runs world-class postgraduate programmes, and offers unique curricula in biomedical engineering, health innovation, and healthcare technology management that they continually update to meet the changing needs of society.

The 100+ postgraduates and postdoctoral researchers who make up the student body exude a clear passion for this field.

“I have always wanted to make a strong impact on people’s lives and I have aimed to do this with the use of technology,” said Safa Nagari, a 2016 Master’s student.

The staff and students are also committed to building human and institutional capacity in biomedical engineering across Africa. They do this through extensive collaborations with other African universities, and by producing accessible resources like their new book, Biomedical Engineering for Africa, which has contributions from 75 African authors.

Looking aheadIn the coming years the team will continue working to develop African-focused health technology.

They will expand their work on image processing, and virtual and augmented reality to provide advanced clinical support, and to help understand what people living with diseases are experiencing.

They will also continue to provide work shadowing opportunities and participate in learner career days and orientation programmes, and will seek out new avenues for outreach and engaged scholarship.

CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERINGIn 1969, UCT opened a centre dedicated to biomedical engineering in response to the increasing importance of this field to medical research and health care. Fifty years later, the division is being celebrated for its academic achievements, cross-disciplinary scope, low-cost solutions to African challenges, and ongoing commitment to the health and wellbeing of all South Africans.

The Easy Squeezy is an attachment sleeve that fits over a standard asthma inhaler, and helps those who can’t apply the force needed to activate a regular inhaler, like elderly and young asthma sufferers.

reScribe is a robotic hand exoskeleton that serves as a rehabilitation tool for stroke patients to improve their fine motor skills through task-oriented handwriting therapy.

A ptosis crutch can be placed along the inside of an eyewire frame to support drooping eyelids.

The ZiBiPen is the world’s only reloadable adrenaline auto-injector pen that treats life-threatening severe allergic reactions at a fraction of the cost of the dominant device on the market.


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From 2015-2018 Cape Town experienced its worst drought in record-keeping history. It was a frenzied time for residents and city managers alike as people scrambled to use less, save more, and plan for ‘Day Zero’ – the day when the taps would run dry.

At the time, Ziervogel, from UCT’s African Climate and Development Initiative, was part of the City of Cape Town’s Water Resilience Advisory Committee, a group of water technicians, environmental experts and academics who worked with public officials to advise the City Council on their management of the water crisis. As the drought curtailed, Ziervogel began researching how the City’s government had responded in order to offer key lessons for other cities.

After doing the initial research Ziervogel said, “I felt that the citizens of Cape Town deserved to have more insight into what had happened behind the scenes”. So she partnered with science writer Leonie Joubert to write Day Zero: One city’s response to a record-breaking drought. Launched in July 2019, the book examines the water crisis from five key perspectives

– those of the water manager, politician, researcher, spokesperson and knowledge broker – to answer the question: what can we learn from the way Cape Town responded to the water crisis?

“Certain common themes emerged around the complexity of the crisis and the need for collaboration,” explained Ziervogel. “The drought taught us that in a time of crisis, we need specialists and experts who have a deep technical understanding. However, these experts need to work collaboratively and quickly to be effective, and often the mechanisms for doing so aren’t in place.”

Other urgent issues emerged from the crisis, highlighting questions such as: What might a more effective relationship between national and local government look like? How can cities finance water and electricity more sustainably? And how can cities listen to marginalised groups to address inequality? “A city’s resilience relies on relationships outside of the city’s government, so how do we better listen to multiple voices?”, Ziervogel asks.

This question prompted Ziervogel to shift her attention to the community level. In the second half of 2019 she worked on The Community Resilience in Cape Town (CoReCT) project in collaboration with Stellenbosch University, the Environmental Monitoring Group, and the Western Cape Water Caucus – a community organisation working in Cape Town’s informal settlements and townships.

The project focused on people living in Mitchells Plain, Du Noon, Makhaza, Joe Slovo, Green Park and other low-income areas, where water and sanitation issues continue to frustrate residents. The team wanted to understand what people do in response to their daily water-related problems, the list of which typically includes issues with bills and pricing, faulty water management devices, and leakages.

Central to the approach was the co-design of a data collection tool, facilitated by the researchers, but actively shaped by the Western Cape Water Caucus members. Over a four-day workshop the team debated over what questions to ask and how to ask them. Then, over three months, 12 story collectors

appointed by the Water Caucus interviewed 314 people from their own communities.

“This process balanced the academic and community expertise needed,” said Ziervogel.

The study’s findings can help guide actions and interventions for improved water services in low-income settlements, especially in historically-disadvantaged communities, and can directly inform the Cape Town Water Strategy.

“Often, people simply wanted to have someone hear them tell their story” said Johan Enqvist, UCT postdoctoral researcher and CoReCT’s project coordinator. He added: “It’s almost therapeutic. If the City can start building a reputation for listening to its citizens, that could make a big difference for the backlog of complaints and general distrust that impedes water service delivery and urban planning”.

USING A MULTI-SCALE APPROACH TO BETTER UNDERSTAND CAPE TOWN’S WATER ISSUESFollowing Cape Town’s record-breaking drought, geographer and climate change adaptation expert, Associate Professor Gina Ziervogel, has been examining the city’s water issues at municipal and local levels to better understand the governance of drought and water stress in cities, and how collaborative responses might be developed.

Cape Town’s once-in-a-century drought gave residents a new appreciation of the importance of water.

The Day Zero Book, written by Associate Professor Gina Ziervogel and science writer Leonie Joubert, was launched at UCT in July 2019.

“Often, people simply wanted to have someone hear them tell their story.”


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Chitaka has made it her academic mission to unpack the plastic pollution problem by taking a detailed look at the types of litter that tend to accumulate on beaches. Using beach surveys, she has been estimating the amount of litter that flows into the marine environment and figuring out where the litter originates from.

She argues that if we want to deal with plastic pollution successfully, we need to move away from generalisations and commit to specifics.

“One of the things you notice about the available lists of the most common forms of plastic pollution out there is that they aren’t detailed,” Chitaka says. “They might list plastic bottles. But what types of plastic bottles? What purpose did they serve? You need to identify their function to understand why they’re contributing to the problem.”

Using the example of a margarine tub, Chitaka raises a few poignant questions.

“Where do you use a margarine tub? At home. Do you throw it away afterwards? No, it would probably be reused a couple of times. What, then, are the chances of it ending up in the ocean? Close to zero. Especially if your household is served by a decent waste collection and disposal scheme. So, would changing the packaging for margarine to something other than plastic make sense? Probably not.”

Grounded approachChitaka focused her research on five beaches in and around Cape Town: Hout Bay, Milnerton, Muizenberg, Paarden Island and Wolfgat Nature Reserve.

At each beach, during one field season in 2017, and another in 2018/19, she picked up all the litter – not just the plastic – from the same 100-metre stretch for 5-10 consecutive days. At the end of each collection day, she transported the litter back to the laboratory at UCT where she cleaned, counted and weighed each item.

She was then able to estimate the daily plastic wash-up rate for each beach, and ultimately, to determine how quickly litter flows into the sea.

During her first study season, Chitaka collected more than 36,000 items, weighing a whopping 53 kg all together. She divided these items into 372 types, of 10 different materials – one of which was plastic – and 19 uses, including food packaging, household, medical and toys.

Unsurprisingly, plastic was the dominant material she collected, accounting for up to 98% of all the items and up to 83% of the overall weight.

The rates of plastic litter accumulation different dramatically across the beaches with Muizenberg at the lowest end yielding an average of 36 pieces per day, and Paarden Eiland at the highest end yielding close to 3,000 plastic pieces daily.

Among the plastic litter, food and drinks items were the most prevalent, with the top 10 being packaging for foodstuff commonly consumed on the go, including (listed alphabetically):

• Beverage bottle lids• Biscuit wrappers• Cotton bud sticks• Lollipop sticks• Lollipop wrappers• Polystyrene clamshells (of the sort you might be

served a take-away burger in)• Polystyrene cups• Single sweet wrappers• Snack packets• Straws

Interestingly, Chitaka found very few locally-recyclable items, such as glass and plastic bottles, which may point to the benefit of recycling initiatives in South Africa.

“South Africa has great recycling infrastructure and we’re going from strength to strength – we’re looking at 63% [PET] bottle recycling,” Chitaka points out.

Litter in lifecycle managementBy unpacking litter rates and quantifying its flow, Chitaka’s study could indeed become a valuable resource for the future of packaging design in South Africa.

“It’s a quantification thing,” Chitaka says. “Let’s put numbers behind this conversation, so that when we’re making decisions, we’re not vilifying all plastic.”

Chitaka was recently celebrated for her work and chosen as one of 10 emerging scientists to receive the Blue Charter fellowship from The Association of Commonwealth Universities. She also became the first recipient of the Excellence in Academia PETCO Award, which recognises the need for peer-reviewed research to underpin strategic interventions in recycling, minimising waste and sustainability.

HOW LIKELY IS IT FOR PLASTIC TO BECOME POLLUTION?Takunda Chitaka, a PhD candidate in the Department of Chemical Engineering, has been assiduously combing five Cape Town beaches for litter. Her goal: to better understand the likelihood of plastic goods becoming pollution.

PhD candidate Takunda Chitaka investigated what is washing up on Cape Town’s beaches, from straws and sweet wrappers to bottle lids and cotton bud sticks.

“Let’s put numbers behind this conversation, so that when we’re making decisions, we’re not vilifying all plastic.”


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Marais, a quantum biologist, is the Founder of #ProudlyHuman, a movement established to pioneer new frontiers in research and technology for a sustainable future on Earth, above and beyond.

“It is no secret that we are currently living in an unprecedented era of development in science and technology, and the expansion of our society beyond this planet is within reach,” explains Marais. She adds: “At the same time, the industry required for this development is having an impact on our planet’s climate, and unprecedented and extreme weather conditions are predicted to increase. The future survival of humanity, whether living off-world or battling the elements on Earth, will depend on technology. But most importantly, survival will depend on society itself, and how successful communities are at working together in extreme and resource-constrained environments.”

Off-world settlement simulation experimentsWhile Elon Musk’s team at SpaceX is building the Starship transport system to get the first humans to Mars within the next decade, #ProudlyHuman is working on the challenge of what happens once we arrive.

To demonstrate technology-enabled sustainable community living in extreme and isolated environments, #ProudlyHuman is conducting off-world settlement simulation experiments here on Earth.

‘Off-World: Antarctica’ will see a carefully selected crew spend nine winter months on Earth’s most extreme and isolated environment. The crew will build a functional and sustainable layer of technology that is independent of currently existing infrastructure, and can achieve the ultimate

Education, a member of the South African government advisory task team on the 4th Industrial Revolution, and an astronaut candidate with the Mars One Project.

Speaking of her extra-terrestrial ambitions, Marais said:

“I’m inspired as a human, to do what we have always done – observe, dream, and expand our horizons through the realisation of these dreams. I want to make the best contribution of which I am capable to this grand and improbable era of human information creation.”

aim of a community thriving off-grid. Last year in December Marais visited White Desert, one of Antarctica’s only private camps, on a location scout.

The harsh Antarctic winter offers a unique research opportunity to test life-support technologies – in areas from renewable energy, water management and precision farming, to the Internet of Things, blockchain, edge computing, communication networks and 3D printing.

But the focus is not only on technology. The #ProudlyHuman team will also investigate the social dynamics of a community living in these challenging conditions.

Marais is currently pursuing a second PhD in team dynamics at UCT’s Graduate School of Business, and believes that the mission’s success will depend on the ability of the team to live and work as an empathic, trusting and considerate community.

Following the Antarctica experiment, the team will use similar experiments in the desert and under the sea to continue their data collection and research on life support systems, water management, food growth and the establishment of critical communications systems.

“Once we have done all of these experiments, we will be ready to advise on the settlements on the Moon, Mars and beyond,” said Marais.

The Off-World Project will launch in Cape Town later this year, with a select team of South African students and young entrepreneurs spending time inside a fully sustainable Off-World habitat placed in a public area of the city. Within the habitat, the team members will manage their renewable power, water, food production and communication systems, while also working on their own research projects. The public will have the opportunity to interact

with the team via live video and social media, and also to visit the habitat itself.

Extra-terrestrial ambitionsIn addition to founding #ProudlyHuman, Marais is the Director at the Foundation for Space Development, an initiative aiming to inspire the youth of developing nations, particularly in Africa, to “Reach for the Stars” through education and science. She is also an internationally-renowned speaker on exploration-driven innovation, faculty at Singularity University and Duke Corporate

WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO ESTABLISH LIFE ON MARS?Imagine spending nine months living through an Antarctic winter. That’s around 270 dark days with temperatures dropping to -50 °C as winds blow at 250 km per hour. Then, imagine leaving Antarctica and spending another long spell in a dry, desolate desert, and in the dark depths of the ocean. This is what aspiring astronaut Dr Adriana Marais plans to do to prepare for life on Mars.

Mars (source NASA/JPL/USGS)

Dr Adriana Marais is researching what it will take to establish human settlements on Mars.

“The future survival of humanity, whether living off-world or battling the elements on Earth, will depend on technology. But most importantly, survival will depend on society itself, and how successful communities are at working together in extreme and resource-constrained environments.”


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UCT is acutely aware of the need to produce graduates who are able and inclined to use their knowledge for the benefit of society at large. To guide this cohort of socially-responsive young leaders, UCT’s Centre for Higher Education Development (CHED) launched the Global Citizenship Programme (GC) in 2010. Open to students from all faculties, GC offers short courses that immerse students in critical thinking, have them grapple with real-world problems, and induct them into the world of community engagement.

“It’s not a conventional academic project”, explains founding director Associate Professor Janice McMillan. The programme takes learning beyond the classroom, and engages students as thoughtful

and opinionated scholars and citizens who are keen to learn, think about, critique and respond to key contemporary issues.

For example, in the short course, Service, Citizenship & Social Justice, students reflect on issues such as power, privilege, agency and possible differences between charity and service. This, with the aim of equipping themselves to serve marginalised communities without inadvertently reproducing the very inequalities their outreach work aims to combat.

Social justice is a key underpinning value in the programme. “Given our African context, the programme brings social justice into the framing of our questions and

considerations from the outset and uses this lens to think about whether and how we might be responsive to, and responsible for, the world in which we live,” explains McMillan.

Senzo Hlophe, a GC alumnus, said the programme was instrumental in instilling a habit of “reflective learning” that he implemented in his academic and professional careers.

“The thing about GC is that it is a value-add to a group of students who are already in the social development space. I think the big takeaway for me was reflective learning and constantly asking questions and trying to improve whatever social project you are implementing.”

Deane is a member of the team on the Event Horizon Telescope, which captured the image.

The supermassive black hole, Messier 87 in the Virgo Galaxy, is 55 million light years from Earth and has a mass 6.5 billion times that of the Sun. Scientists have long theorised that black holes exist (neither light nor data escapes from a black hole). The discovery is an important step towards confirming Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity.

The image showed the edges of the black hole, or “event horizon”, for the first time. Scientists estimate that the event horizon is about the breadth of our solar system.

According to reports, the black hole is also active, converting nearby gas and matter into energy 100 times more efficiently than the nuclear fusion that powers the stars.

Large-scale international cooperation between 20 countries and 200 scientists at a cost of millions of

US dollars was required to capture the image of the black hole. To “see the unseeable” and produce the image, the project harnessed eight radio telescopes on Antarctica, Greenland, South America, North America, Hawaii and Europe, all pointing their dishes at the black hole and creating a virtual giant parabolic dish. To take the pictures, the teams relied on good weather at all eight telescopes on the same days in April 2017.

The project took two years to complete because the data files from each telescope were so enormous they were too large to transfer digitally.

Space science programmeDeane completed both his undergraduate degree and a master’s in astrophysics and space science at UCT. After completing his PhD at the University of Oxford, he returned to UCT for three years on a Square Kilometre Array-supported postdoctoral fellowship. Deane has already been the lead author of a Nature paper, titled: “A close-pair binary in a distant triple supermassive black hole system”.

UCT TEAM AND TECHNOLOGY HELP TO PHOTOGRAPH A BLACK HOLE

UCT’S GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP PROGRAMME

UCT alumnus and South African astrophysicist Roger Deane is part of an international team of scientists that captured the first image of a black hole, released to the world in April 2019. Remote sensing technology developed at UCT also played a role in the historic achievement.

Since its launch in 2010, UCT’s Global Citizenship Programme has been inspiring a new generation of socially-responsive young leaders, and providing students with the skills needed to tackle development challenges as they intensify across the world.

Founding director of UCT’s Global Citizenship Programme, Associate Professor Janice McMillan

Scientists have photographed a massive black hole, Messier 87 in the Virgo Galaxy, 55 million light years from Earth, with a mass 6.5 billion times that of the Sun. (Source: Event Horizon Telescope collaboration et al).

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This additional funding will enable the development of a new home for the d-school at the intersection of Woolsack Drive and Cross-Campus Road, a hub of activity between UCT’s upper, middle and lower campuses. The new building will be green-star rated and will be donated to UCT.

The d-school currently operates from the Graduate School of Business’s Breakwater Campus at the V&A Waterfront, and a more central location will hopefully enable better integration into the broader UCT environment.

The d-school offers programmes, focused on developing skills such as complex problem solving, critical thinking and creativity, as well as emphasising collaboration within diverse multidisciplinary teams. Through its workshops and programmes, the d-school is helping students unlock their creative confidence as they prepare for their careers in an ever-changing world.

Dr Russell Ally, executive director of UCT’s Development and Alumni Department, explains that this the third d-school to be funded by Hasso Plattner. The other two can

be found in Potsdam, Germany and Stanford, USA.

“Design thinking is characterised by a solution-orientated methodology and its hallmark is empathy with those for whom the solutions are being designed,” Ally said.

“It is a singular honour for UCT to be included with these other prestigious institutions to pioneer design thinking on the African continent, and we are deeply appreciative of the confidence that Hasso Plattner has shown in us by making such a significant donation.”

Richard Perez, founding director of the d-school at UCT, said the school’s “overall objective is to promote design thinking as an enabler of innovation and new outcomes that can meet the needs of users in complex socio-political and economic contexts”.

“It is a way of thinking that provides students with tools, a process, and ultimately a mindset that equips them to work together to create solutions to real-world challenges,” he said, adding that design thinking skills are considered a competitive advantage in the job market.

MASSIVE FUNDING BOOST FOR SCHOOL OF DESIGN THINKINGIn 2015, UCT received seed funding from the Hasso Plattner Foundation to start a design thinking school at UCT. After a successful start-up period, the Hasso Plattner School of Design Thinking – or d-school as it is commonly known – has now received further funding from the foundation to construct a dedicated facility focused on the teaching, practise and research of design thinking.

Richard Perez, founding director of the d-school.


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The generous donation will be used to establish an initial five-year Neville Isdell Chair in African-centric Drug Discovery and Development at H3D. H3D’s director and founder, Professor Kelly Chibale will hold the chair, which includes the directorship of H3D.

Through the donation, Isdell, who took the world’s largest beverage company to new heights during his tenure, will support solution-orientated research to create life-saving health innovations.

“I am excited about playing a part in helping to achieve African solutions to public health

challenges on the continent and across the world. I hope this support will help Professor Chibale to drive and lead innovative research and development (R&D) of new malaria medicines, as well as new tuberculosis and antimicrobial resistance treatments, and train a new generation of African scientists with key modern pharmaceutical skills required to discover modern medicines,” Isdell said.

The donation will be used partly to lead efforts in establishing the H3D African Drug Metabolism and Disposition Project, also known as the H3D “African Liver Project”. This will focus on addressing the issue of variability

in drug responses across African populations, which is mostly driven by genetic differences in the expression and activity of drug-metabolising enzymes.

Prioritising drug candidatesChibale said the aim of the project is to develop and validate a preclinical discovery tool that can be used to prioritise drug candidates during their chemical lead optimisation phase based on the predicted pharmacological profile in African patients.

He explained: “In addition to providing useful data for targeted clinical trial design, and eventually for the establishment of better directed drug dosage and dosage intervals, the African Liver Project will also make H3D a unique centre of excellence where scientists from the global north and Africa will work hand in hand to better understand genetic variability in diverse African populations.”

H3D already has a potential anti-malaria drug undergoing human trials. In a single dose, this clinical development candidate has the potential to cure, block transmission, and protect.

H3D was launched eight years ago and has grown from a staff of four scientists to the current 60. “Should H3D continue to be successful, it could result in the beginning of a home-grown pharmaceutical R&D industry that would focus on the unmet medical needs of African populations and create high-skilled jobs for African scientists,” said Chibale.

In 2018, Chibale was named as one of Fortune magazine’s “50 World’s Greatest Leaders” for his pivotal work. He was also included in the magazine’s annual list of “influential figures we admire most”, and was featured prominently in the Financial Times twice within the first quarter of 2019. He is a South African National Research Foundation A-rated scientist.

About the funderIsdell was born in Ireland and raised in Zambia, Chibale’s home country. He pursued a BSocSc degree at UCT before joining Coca-Cola in Zambia in 1966. He worked for the company in 11 countries across the globe before rising to become chairman and chief executive. He has served on the boards of big corporations, including General Motors, as well as non-profits such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) USA and the Peace Parks Foundation.

In 2019 he was named president of the 137-year-old UCT Rugby Football Club. A talented rugby player in his youth, Isdell donated US$1 million to the club in 2011, which was used to fund the UCT Neville Isdell Rugby Centre. This is in addition to his funding of the Smuts Hall Neville Isdell Leadership Camp over the past few years, a commitment he has recently renewed for another five years.

MULTIMILLION RAND INJECTION FOR AFRICA MEDICINES RESEARCH

UCT alumnus and former chairman and chief executive of Coca-Cola, Neville Isdell, has donated US$1,242,160 (approximately R18 million) towards research into the discovery of new medicines for infectious diseases at the university’s Drug Discovery and Development Centre (H3D).

Neville Isdell has donated US$1,242,160 (approximately R18 million) towards research into the discovery of new medicines for infectious diseases at the university’s Drug Discovery and Development Centre (H3D).

Professor Kelly Chibale, holder of the Neville Isdell Chair and director of H3D.

“H3D could result in the beginning of a home-grown pharmaceutical R&D industry that would focus on the unmet medical needs of African populations and create high-skilled jobs for African scientists”


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The new conference centre is located on the GSB’s historic, 100-year-old campus, a former slave prison, at the V&A Waterfront. It fills the growing need for a large venue to accommodate local and international events focused on research and academic themes. With space at a premium, the centre is located to the north of the GSB’s present home, between two stone buildings – the Moorings – which date from the 1880s. The multifunctional, four-level building offers flexible spaces and facilities and is able to host up to 900 people. It also has a 250-seater auditorium and a Green Star 4-star rating.

The launch of the conference centre include a naming ceremony, which honoured one of the school’s own. Speaking at the event, the then GSB acting director Associate Professor Kosheek Sewchurran announced that the auditorium had been named after the late Kate Jowell, the GSB’s sixth director (1992 to 1998) and the only woman to lead the school. Described as “brilliant and pioneering”, Jowell established a vital platform for the developing field of labour law and industrial relations. She died in 2013.

In her keynote address at the ceremony, Vice-Chancellor Mamogkheti Phakeng praised the GSB

for its culture of thought leadership, saying that new ideas, coupled with action, are vital to address society’s complex issues. “This campus took over a former slave prison and renewed the space from a place of oppression to one of freedom, including freedom of thought and a place of connecting and pioneering. In our rapidly advancing world we need spaces where we can steer that world to address the frightening growth of populism, poverty and inequality.”

“I ask that all of us use this space specifically to address how South Africans can benefit from the Fourth Industrial revolution, how we can reduce the inequality gap to address the need for jobs, new business and technology sectors to harness the energy of our talented youth. This is a place where future leaders can come together in a comfortable space to discuss ways we can create the world we want to live in.”

UCT is particularly proud of the building’s Green Star 4-star rating by the Green Building Council of South

Africa, a requirement for all UCT Properties & Services new building projects.

“The rating system assesses buildings according to a range of environmental impact categories,” said Ann-Mari Malan, technical coordinator of the Green Building Council. Green Star categories provide the benchmarks: management, indoor environment quality, energy, transport, water, materials, land use and ecology, emissions and innovation.

Sustainability features include the installation of a building management system to actively control the effectiveness of building services, LED lighting, metered taps, waterless urinals, grey water treatment, motion-sensor activated lighting and the supply of quality external air.

Architect Lisa Scott said: “This was the site of the old stables building which was later the hostel kitchen, linked to the original convict station, dating to the 1860s, which predates the industrial Breakwater Prison.”

To make way for the conference centre the old stables building was demolished, following a Section 34 application to Heritage Western Cape. But some of the original materials were salvaged and refurbished, such as the 130-year-old steel trusses, which form an outdoor breakout space with low stone pitched walls using stone sourced from the site to “acknowledge the footprint of the demolished building”.

“The external architectural treatment of the new conference centre continues to reflect the existing conditions on the campus; extremely simple wall-based architecture with recessed punctured openings,” said Scott.

Scott added: “With both stone cottages now standing free, acting as bookends to the new building and bound together by the encircling heritage stone wall, a clear and powerful statement is made about how new and old can coexist to form a serene and harmonious group of buildings.”

GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS LAUNCHES STATE-OF-THE-ART CONFERENCE CENTREUCT’s R100 million, state-of-the-art, “green” academic conference centre at its Graduate School of Business (GSB) is a meeting place for thought leadership to address society’s critical issues.

The state-of-the-art, “green” GSB conference centre is a blend of old and new.


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Each year UCT holds a phonathon to give alumni an opportunity to contribute funds for various on-campus initiatives, and to give current students the opportunity to connect with alumni. Organised by UCT’s Development and Alumni Department (DAD), in partnership with Information and Communication Technology Services (ICTS), the 2019 phonathon focused on raising funds for the UCT Food Security Programme, a special initiative launched during the November 2018 exam season to address the issue of student hunger on campus.

Student hunger is a growing national challenge. In 2018 the National Research Foundation reported that more than 30% of South African students are food insecure, compared with 26% of the population. Campus food insecurity remains high at institutions across the country, including UCT.

The UCT Food Programme is a collaborative initiative involving several departments, as well as student and staff volunteers from across the university, under the leadership of Professor Loretta Feris, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Transformation. The programme feeds 600 students every weekday on campus, with each one receiving vouchers that are redeemable at Food Connect outlets on campus.

Edwina Brooks, director of the Student Development Cluster in the Department of Student Affairs explains that providing students with

vouchers rather than pre-packed meals gives them a wider choice, and removes the indignity that may be associated with food insecurity.

“Student hunger is hidden and stigmatised. Our response aims to eliminate that stigma, and instead promote students’ dignity. The ability to broaden their minds without fretting about their next meal,” Brooks said.

In 2019 the cost of a single daily voucher was R32. With 600 students being part of the current programme – and the number of affected students expected to increase – a total amount of R1.5 million is projected to be needed to fund the programme in 2020. The 2019 phonathon helped to raise more than R700,000 towards this target.

As the university continues to develop a sustainable food programme, it will explore various options for food security and harness the spirit of volunteerism that has already rallied UCT and the broader community.

For further information, or to volunteer for or donate to the Food Security Programme, please contact Edwina Brooks ([email protected]).

RAISING FUNDS TO REDUCE STUDENT HUNGER ON CAMPUSThe UCT Food Security Programme works to address student hunger on campus and remove the indignity that may be associated with food insecurity. During the 2019 phonathon alumni pledged more than R700,000 towards this core university initiative.

The 2019 UCT phonathon focused on raising funds for the UCT Food Security Programme, a special initiative launched during the November 2018 exam season to address the issue of student hunger on campus.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Loretta Feris visited the phonathon call room to lend her support to student callers.


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Specifically, the DUCT campaign aimed to grow the unrestricted endowment fund from R500,000 to R1 billion, while raising additional funding for priority UCT projects. In the process the campaign worked to profile UCT as the leading university on the African continent with a global presence, and to coordinate sustained fundraising efforts across the university.

Two milestones in the university’s history formed the background to this campaign. The first was the 2018 celebration of UCT’s centenary as a dedicated degree-issuing university. The second was the marking, in 2019, of the institution’s 190th birthday since its founding as the South African College.

By the end of the campaign, 1,246 donors had given their support, a total of 10,187 individual donation transactions had been administered, and R98.3 million had been receipted directly into the unrestricted endowment fund, thereby increasing its overall value from R500 million in 2015 to R676 million in 2019 (see Table 1).

The most significant donations to the unrestricted endowment fund came from the United Kingdom where 181 donors contributed R53 million, and from South Africa where 736 donors contributed R40 million (see Table 2).

Under the DUCT campaign banner an additional R140 million was raised from various individuals, corporations and trusts for important capital and infrastructure projects at UCT. Most notably, this included building projects for a new Clinical Neuroscience’s Centre and for the Nelson Mandela School of Governance, and brought the collective amount raised by the DUCT campaign to R238 million.

While we are therefore disappointed that we were not able to add a further R500,000 to the endowment to reach our R1 billion target, we are exceedingly grateful to our alumni and broader donor community for their most generous contributions to the campaign. These cash reserves will allow us to support a critical range of areas at the university, such as bursaries and scholarships, student health, financial aid, infrastructure and strategic projects.

With appreciation,Sidney van Heerden

THE DISTINGUISHING UCT ENDOWMENT CAMPAIGN DRAWS TO A CLOSEFrom 2015 to 2019, UCT ran one of the most important fundraising campaigns it has ever undertaken. The Distinguishing UCT (DUCT) campaign, run by the Development and Alumni Department, aimed to strengthen UCT’s unrestricted (‘free’) endowment fund – an important source of additional funding in an environment of state budget cuts and declining student-fee income.

TABLE 1: DONORS AND DONATIONS BY CATEGORY

RECEIVED FROM AMOUNT (ZAR) NUMBER OF DONATIONS

NUMBER OF DONORS

Individuals - Alumni (Convocation) 47 919 041 7038 954

Individuals - Alumni (Non-convocation) 65 768 260 8

Individuals - Friends 2 059 425 2592 168

Individuals - Organisational contacts 14 950 85 6

International - Corporates 4 456 502 10 7

International - Estates Late 81 365 1 1

International - Foundations and trusts 8 755 573 31 16

International - NGO/Aid Agencies 96 648 4 3

National - Corporates 1 503 397 42 21

National - Estates Late 6 008 728 26 24

National - Foundations and trusts 27 423 138 93 33

Other 4 497 5 5

Total ZAR 98 389 032 10 187 1 246

TOTAL DONATIONS BY CATEGORY

Individuals Alumni

(Convocation)

R47,919,041

Individuals Alumni (Non-convocation)

R65,768

Individuals Friends

R2,059,425

Individuals Organisational

contacts

R14,950

International Corporates

R4,456,502

International Estates Late

R81,365

International Foundations

and trusts

R8,755,573

International NGO/Aid Agencies

R96,648

National Corporates

R1,503,397

National Estates Late

R6,008,728

National Foundations

and trusts

R27,423,138

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TABLE 2: DONORS AND DONATIONS BY COUNTRY

RECEIVED FROM AMOUNT (ZAR) NUMBER OF DONATIONS NUMBER OF DONORS

Australia 359 547 215 26

Barbados 75 320 1 1

Canada 296 815 128 92

Denmark 3 400 28 2

France 11 500 3 2

Germany 83 057 6 6

Hong Kong 469 565 5 3

Japan 300 1 1

Israel 1 754 20 5

Lithuania 200 1 1

Malawi 500 10 1

Mauritius 50 000 1 1

Namibia 99 440 14 8

Netherlands 149 440 2 2

New Zealand 9 000 4 3

Norway 973 1 1

Qatar 1 000 1 1

South Africa 40 057 328 8853 736

Spain 1 400 2 2

United Kingdom 53 586 788 508 181

United Arab Emirates 2 303 2 2

USA 359 547 215 25

Other 2 769 855 166 144

Total ZAR 98 389 032 10 187 1 246

TOTAL DONATIONS BY COUNTRY

AUSTRALIAR359,547

NEW ZEALANDR9,000

BARBADOSR75,320

SPAINR1,400

UNITED KINDOMR53,586,788

FRANCER11,500

NETHERLANDSR149,440

NORWAYR973

GERMANYR83,057

LITHUANIAR200

DENMARKR3,400

USAR359,547

CANADA R296,815

SOUTH AFRICAR40,057,328

NAMIBIAR99,440

MALAWIR500

MAURITIUSR50,000

ISRAELR1,745

QATARR1,000

UNITED ARAB EMIRATESR2,303

JAPANR300

HONG KONGR469,545

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The Leadership Programme was founded by UCT alumnus Professsor Klaus-Jürgen Bathe, a world-renowned professor of mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and founder of ADINA R&D.

Having received a scholarship to study at UCT in the late 1960s, Prof Bathe has always been deeply committed to “paying it forward” to his alma mater, and has offered scholarships in engineering for over 20 years. Through the KJB Leadership Programme he wanted to deepen his commitment to UCT and help to build a legacy of leadership in Africa.

“To ensure a prosperous and peaceful future for all its citizens, the countries in Africa, as all nations worldwide, need excellent leaders. With good leadership, the dream of prosperity and peace for everyone will be realised,” said Professor Bathe. “South Africa is a country with many resources, but tremendous challenges ahead for its young democracy. I would like to help in developing the country to be able to provide well for all of its citizens.”

Directed by Professor Alphose Zingoni, the programme works to find, nurture and support talented undergraduates from all faculties

at UCT. Each selected student is granted two-year, full-cost scholarships at the undergraduate level, and given further opportunities to develop their leadership skills and knowledge.

Additional electivesKJB Leadership Scholars are required to take two elective courses that are not part of their normal degree programs.

Micaella Rogers, a 2019 KJB Scholar, explains how she was encouraged to take an elective course that she would never have considered before. “The course had a strong and often critical focus on

development initiatives in Africa and globally and the engagement with this matter from a gendered perspective has had a profound impact on how I now understand the world around me.”

She added that she now has a renewed desire to be meaningfully involved in inclusive and sustainable development in Africa.

InternshipsIn their second scholarship year KJB Scholars spend up to six weeks attached to an approved organisation in South Africa or internationally, such as a government department, a national agency, a public institution or a large company. This gives them the opportunity to interact with leaders in various spheres (not necessarily in the same field as their degree studies), and to experience firsthand how sound leadership is pivotal to the successful running of institutions.

Speaking of his internships at Oxford University and the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory, 2018 KJB Scholar Denislav Marinov explained how the experiences heightened his global awareness and fostered within him a culture of global citizenship. “[They] reminded me of the importance of international collaboration and its role in collectively advancing humanity,” he said.

Programme support

Each year KJB Scholars attend boot camps where they explore who they are as leaders, and workshop what leadership might look like in the future. Through these sessions, and other informal activities, the scholars soon feel part of a community where they can gain support from one another, as well as guidance and mentorship from the programme facilitators.

Nelisa Khwela, a 2018 KJB scholar, said that she felt that the boot camps helped to nurture her leadership abilities, and inspired her to embrace becoming an African leader.

“Being part of this scholarship meant far more than removing my financial burden,” added Keabetswe Bonolo Skee, a 2017 KJB Scholar. “It completely changed the way I viewed my skills, talents and the opportunities which were made available to me.”

To date, the programme has supported 60 students who have been wholly funded by Professor Bathe. The vision going forward is for the programme to secure enough additional sponsorship from governments, national agencies, industry and the business sector, to create an endowment fund of R120 million that can support 30 students at any given time in perpetuity.

In so doing, the programme aims to ensure that the economies of Africa have a continuous supply of excellent young leaders committed to making a difference to their countries.

LEAVING A LEGACY OF LEADERSHIP IN AFRICAFor five years the Klaus-Jürgen Bathe (KJB) Leadership Programme has been working to produce graduates with outstanding leadership qualities and a strong sense of social justice. The hope is that these graduates will go on to play leading and significant roles in business, government, industry and civil society in South Africa and beyond. In 2019, the programme celebrated the significant milestone of supporting its 50th student.

“The programme completely changed the way I viewed my skills, talents and the opportunities which were made available to me.”

KJB Leadership Programme founder, Professor Klaus-Jürgen Bathe (left) and director, Professor Alphose Zingoni (right).

In 2019 the KJB Leadership Programme celebrated its 50th graduate. KJB Leadership Scholars.


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The six cyclists in the OurAfricaPolePole (pole pole means “slowly, slowly” in Swahili) team were Suzanne Lambert (civil engineering), Michelle Rorich (economic development), Robbie Rorich (electromechanical engineering), Jess McCormack (landscape architecture) and Angus Teeton (African music and technology). Also travelling with them was Shanga Balendran, a Norwegian medical student.

Michelle explained why the team documented their journey on social media and their blog.

“In sharing this story, we know that people removed from Africa’s reality will begin to see our continent in her true light – rich in community and creativity, with a deep desire to live in harmony and willingness to work for a future that includes all Africans.”

Reframing AfricaDespite family and friends being concerned about the safety and security of the cyclists, the group never felt unsafe throughout their journey. This, even though they were travelling through Khartoum, Sudan during times of protest, and through areas of unrest in Ethiopia.

In fact the team described Khartoum as having an atmosphere of expectant positive change rather than one of fear.

Suzanne Lambert described how she noticed that the stories we hear through the media can distance us from one another.

“Fear of the ‘other’ is a story we are force-fed, especially in a South African context”, she said, adding that we are told: “Africa is a big, dark, scary place; be careful.”

Suzanne described how, rather than being frightening, the vulnerability of being on a bicycle was actually wonderful.

“You’re out there in the open and you always need locals’ help with water, food, a place to sleep or bicycle problems. These preconceptions fall by the wayside. And this is where the magic happens. We received generosity and kindness everywhere. People with nothing shared what they had, opened their doors, let us camp on their land and engaged with us enthusiastically. I cannot recall a time I felt unsafe or fearful.”

In Sudan, the team was invited to be guests in numerous homes, and offered food and places to sleep every night. In the drought-ridden Turkana Region of Kenya, communities shared their precious water reserves with the cyclists despite their severe water shortages.

“They have so little materially, but they welcomed us warmly and invited us to stay and eat with them”, added Michelle.

Context-specific development and innovationThe team described ‘Our Africa Pole-Pole’ as a passion project, with the aim of answering one big

question: What do we want our African future to look like?

To try to answer this question they specifically took time to stop and listen to voices that they felt are typically excluded from conversations about development. What they found left them with great hope for Africa’s future.

“The most powerful development projects that we encountered were born in their locality, creating context-specific solutions,” said Michelle.

She described how a Kenyan named Philip Munyasia was creating a micro revolution towards sustainable living in his hometown by inspiring young people to grow plants using a combination of traditional and non-traditional practices. In Tanzania they met a man named Moleck who started a WhatsApp group with the friends from his village who have moved elsewhere for work; together they raise funds for projects to improve the lives of people back home. In Malawi the team learnt of a vibrant WhatsApp group being used to share information and practices for sustainable agriculture. In Zambia, they encountered an organisation called ZayoHub that, by setting up hubs of connectivity, power and microloans in remote, rural villages, is supporting local businesses, and providing textbook-scarce schools with digital and gamified curricula.

Real connectionsMichelle said that she wishes that every African student studying development could have the OurAfricaPolePole experience and stressed the importance of “travelling the continent to learn about each other’s contexts and contributions to African development”.

The team hopes that their journey can inspire others to believe that they can be change makers, and that their experiences and insights can help to reframe the way we see development in Africa.

UCT ALUMNI PEDAL FROM CAIRO TO CAPE TOWNInspired by their academic and social experiences at UCT, a young team of graduates spent a year cycling from the top of Africa to its tip, exploring the continent from a developmental perspective.

“In sharing this story, we know that people removed from Africa’s reality will begin to see our continent in her true light – rich in community and creativity, with a deep desire to live in harmony and willingness to work for a future that includes all Africans.”

Michelle Rorich in the Egyptian desert (Source: OurAfricaPolePole).

One of the countless examples of the families that helped the cyclists, took them in, treated them with warm generosity and welcomed them into their families (Source: OurAfricaPolePole).

The team’s first ‘wild camp’ in Egypt, in a river bed near the Red Nile (Source: OurAfricaPolePole).55


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EMS was previously a part of the Centre for Higher Education Development. The 2020 iteration of the annual Summer School was the first to be held under the DAD umbrella.

The annual three-week public education programme, open to everyone, irrespective of formal qualifications, offers a variety of short courses – from arts to history and science.

The absence of entry requirements allows Summer School to realise its goal of serving as a public education programme, explains director Dr Medee Rall. It’s an annual opportunity for the public to benefit from the wealth of knowledge concentrated at the university.

Moreover, it’s a chance for the university to stay in touch with its

alumni, with many travelling from across the world to sample the January smorgasbord.

“Some of UCT’s donors are also regulars at Summer School,” adds Rall. “We’ve been averaging more than 2000 people coming every year, and they arrive from across Africa and across the world.”

Dr Russell Ally, executive director of DAD, agrees: “DAD is in many senses a natural home for Summer School, as so many of our alumni use it as one of the primary interfaces with their alma mater,” says Ally.

The Summer School offering has evolved over the years to meet changing societal needs and audience preferences. The offerings span the university’s faculties, and

participants can flit from a science seminar to a writing course, from a language class to a talk about the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It’s the university in a nutshell, and Rall is itching for it to grow.

“We want more and more young people to sign up for the courses and lectures, and we’ve added many items to the roster that we think will appeal to a range of curiosities,” says Rall.

EMS hosts a year-round Summer School extension programme, with lecturers presenting occasional talks to those who couldn’t make the January slots, or who simply couldn’t get enough. EMS also occasionally arranges a Winter School, which runs along similar themes during UCT’s mid-year vacation.

SUMMER SCHOOL JOINS THE DEVELOPMENT AND ALUMNI DEPARTMENTThe Centre for Extra-Mural Studies (EMS) which runs UCT’s popular Summer School, found a new home in 2019 when it joined the university’s Development and Alumni Department (DAD).

In his book Philllips details the university’s chequered relationship with the apartheid state, which ranged from willing collaboration, to ambivalence, formal opposition, protest action and the growing defiance of students that culminated in the sit-in of 1968.

The book focuses on many other dimensions of UCT’s heterogeneous history too, including its leaders, lecturers, learners, as well as teaching, research, social, cultural and sporting life. It weaves these stories into an elegant, accessible and nuanced account of UCT in this era.

A graduate of UCT, Phillips taught in the Department of Historical Studies and the Department of Public Health at UCT from 1974 to 2014. He specialises in the history of disease, medicine, health, and higher education and has written several books in these fields.

He explained that this book, like others of its kind, uses an introduction and conclusion to paint a clear picture of the university at the start of 1948 and then again at the end of 1968. The chapters in between cover the UCT administration, construction and buildings, and a series of chapters on the academic project, which include teaching and learning and research.

“I also tried to weave in students’ experiences and their perspectives of what it was like to be taught,” he said.

To gather the information for the book, Phillips and his research assistants conducted almost 200 interviews with former UCT staff and students, examined 25 years of editions of the student newspaper, Varsity, roughly 50,000 photographs and cartoons, and letters and correspondence by individuals linked to the institution at the time.

“This book doesn’t survey just one angle, instead it’s a perspective from 360 degrees,” he said. “[It] allows for the present and its historical baggage to be better understood, and for the future to be better mapped out.”

The book is published by Jacana Media and is available at bookstores nationwide.

NEW BOOK DESCRIBES UCT DURING THE APARTHEID ERAThe latest book by UCT academic and author, Emeritus Professor Howard Phillips, was launched in February 2020. The book, titled UCT Under Apartheid: From Onset to Sit-in 1948 - 1968, is a richly-illustrated volume that draws on an extensive array of written, oral and visual sources to provide a rounded social, intellectual, educational, cultural and political history of UCT during the first phase of apartheid.

The 1968 student sit-in at the Bremner Building to protest UCT Council’s decision to withdraw black academic Archie Mafeje’s appointment as a senior lecturer.

Emeritus Professor Howard Phillips’s new book provides readers with an accessible and nuanced take on the institution at the start of apartheid.


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From the stage, Johaar Mosaval remembers seeing diamonds glittering on the tiaras of the elegant audience. It was the celebration of the coronation of Elizabeth II and her honoured guests at the Royal Opera House in London included an elite collection of the world’s royalty, heads of state and prominent individuals.

The occasion was especially significant for Mosaval, a ballet dancer from the dusty streets of District Six in Cape Town, having travelled thousands of kilometres from apartheid South Africa to chase his dream of a career as a ballet dancer in London.

Mosaval’s performance made history that evening in 1953. When he took to the stage, at what was one of the most prestigious events of the 20th Century, he dazzled the audience. Few would have believed this was his first solo performance for the Sadler’s Wells Ballet (later the Royal Ballet), an internationally- renowned classical ballet company based in Covent Garden, London.

“Being chosen for this role was one of the most unexpected things to have ever happened to me,” said Mosaval.

As a teenage boy, he enjoyed gymnastics as an extramural activity at school. Because of his good coordination, he was the star of the class. Thinking back, he said that’s where his love for ballet dancing really began.

“One day, a woman came up to me and said: ‘Oh, you are such a beautiful dancer.’ She was the same woman who produced the pantomime I was dancing in at the time.”

Her name was Rose Ulrich and she was a good friend of Dulcie Howes – considered the prima ballerina assoluta of South African ballet at the time, and a teacher and the director of UCT’s Ballet School. Ulrich arranged for Howes to watch Mosaval’s dancing and offered to train him at UCT.

While this was a blessing for Mosaval, attending class and refining his art as an aspiring dancer at the university felt more like a curse. His classmates did very little to make him feel welcome.

“I didn’t enjoy it. I got awful looks from the other students in the class, like I didn’t belong there. I couldn’t cross a particular line and always had to stand right at the back. I was always on my own. But I told myself to press on regardless.”

He also had to convince his parents, who were devout Muslims, that

it was okay for him to pursue a career as a ballet dancer. After a sterling performance one evening, Mosaval’s act made the front page of a weekly magazine with a short caption about the “very talented Johaar Mosaval”. It so happened that his two sheikhs at the Azzavia Masjid in Walmer Estate read the magazine that day and he was summoned to the mosque.

“They asked me: ‘Show us what ballet is all about’. Lucky for me, that morning I was working on my agility exercises and I showed them. They were stunned,” he laughs. “My sheikhs ... told my mom and dad that if there was an opportunity for me to train abroad, they should let me go.”

When two internationally acclaimed dancers, Anton Dolin and Alicia Markova, visited Cape Town, they wanted to see Mosaval perform on stage. He made such an impression that they helped set the wheels in motion for his training in London.

Mosavel loved everything about being in London, and loved learning the ins and outs of ballet at the then Sadler’s Wells Ballet

School. His multiple outstanding performances led to him being appointed as an official dancer of the Sadler’s Wells Ballet Company in 1952.

Ultimately, Mosaval’s exceptional talent saw him become the first black South African to achieve the status of senior principal dancer at the Royal Ballet, a position he held for more than two decades.

Over the course of his career, Mosaval received many awards, including the Winston Churchill Award (1975), Queen Elizabeth II Gold Jubilee Medal (1977), Western Cape Arts, Culture and Heritage Award (1999), Western Cape Premier’s Commendation Certificate (2003), Cape Tercentenary Foundation Molteno Gold Medal (2005), and the Arts and Culture Trust Lifetime Achievement Award for Dance (2016). In 2019, he was presented with The Order of Ikhamanga in Gold by President Cyril Ramaphosa, and during 2020, he will be awarded an honorary doctorate by UCT.

ALUMNUS DANCES DOWN MEMORY LANEThere is no doubt about the enormous contribution made by Dr Johaar Mosaval to ballet and to community empowerment. Highly respected within the dance performance community locally and internationally, Mosaval has performed at the highest levels of professionalism, both at home and abroad, contributed fresh perspectives to the medium, and broke colossal social barriers along the way.

As a black dance student at UCT, Mosaval’s journey was tough, but his perseverance was rewarded with a glittering career.

Mosaval with UCT’s Professor Chris Barnard. One of Mosaval’s favourite memories is wowing Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II.


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Gravity and cosmology, complexity and causation, and brain and behaviour are three areas in which Ellis has focused his research. From looking at diversity in the different scales of the Universe, to studying the nature of primary emotional systems in the human brain, his work has opened new doors of knowledge.

Ellis obtained his BSc Honours degree in physics from UCT, a PhD in applied mathematics from the University of Cambridge, and an additional BSc Honours in business data processing at UCT. He has worked at a variety of institutions including the University of Cambridge, the University of Texas, Queen Mary College (London), the University of Alberta, Boston University, and the International School of Advanced Studies (SISSA) in Trieste. He also spent time as a visiting professor at the Enrico Fermi Institute at the University of Chicago and at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Germany.

His PhD work at Cambridge explored inhomogeneous and anisotropic cosmologies and singularities, culminating in the book The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time, which he co-authored with with Stephen Hawking in 1973, and that is now regarded as a classic.

that rationality and reason must be balanced with faith and hope in order to accurately understand the universe, Ellis cites South Africa’s turbulent history:

“There were very many times in the past when it was rational to give up all hope for the future – to assume that the nation would decay into a racial holocaust that never happened. It did not occur because of the transformatory actions of those marvelous leaders Desmond Tutu and Nelson

On his return to South Africa, Ellis established the Cosmology Research Group at UCT, with many of its students going on to play important roles in the South African science sector. Ellis is also a founding member of the Academy of Science of South Africa, participated in the commission that recommended the construction of the Southern African Large Telescope, and served as a member of the task group responsible for drafting South Africa’s Green Paper on Science and Technology.

A critic of apartheidWhilst Ellis was building momentum at the forefront of the development of general relativity theory, he also established himself as an unrelenting critic of the Nationalist government of South Africa and its brutal system of apartheid.

In 1977, he and three colleagues wrote The Squatter Problem in the Western Cape, a scathing review of the plight of homeless people under the Nationalists. Two years later, he co-wrote Low Income Housing Policy in South Africa, an analysis of how to transform the desperate housing situation of oppressed people in Cape Town. The book so enraged the apartheid regime that the government minister responsible for housing policy denounced it at Parliament,

Mandela, confounding the calculus of rationality.”

In May 2019 Ellis was awarded the Georges Lemaître International Prize, an accolade presented every two years to a scientist who has made a major contribution to the development and dissemination of knowledge in the fields of astronomy, astrophysics, geophysics or space research.

Ellis has won numerous such awards for his work in the past, including the Herschel Medal of

something that Ellis now recalls with pride. Ironically, the book later became a guide for a renewed national housing policy.

Ellis’s experiences of growing up in apartheid South Africa and later being a part of the country’s transformation to a multi-cultural democracy had an enormous impact on his academic work and gave him insight that would inform some of his most important discoveries and writings. For example, when defending his notion

the Royal Society of South Africa, the Star of South Africa Medal (awarded by President Nelson Mandela), the Templeton Prize (2004), the South African National Science and Technology Forum lifetime contribution award, the Academy of Science of South Africa Gold medal, and the Order of Mapungubwe (awarded by President Thabo Mbeki). He has written or co-authored over 450 papers, authored and co-authored 16 books, and has over 36,000 citations with an H-index of 80.

EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF APPLIED MATHEMATICS AWARDED RENOWNED INTERNATIONAL PRIZEIn May 2019, Emeritus Professor George Ellis was awarded the Georges Lemaître International Prize in Belgium for his contributions in the fields of cosmology and complex dynamic systems.

In May 2019 Emeritus Professor George Ellis was awarded the Georges Lemaître International Prize, an accolade presented every two years to a scientist who has made a major contribution to the development and dissemination of knowledge in the fields of astronomy, astrophysics, geophysics or space research.


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HONORARY DOCTORATES FOR FIVE LUMINARIES

GEORGES BELFORTDr Georges Belfort is considered one of the world’s leading biochemical engineers. Over the course of a career spanning five decades, he has contributed to the advancement of science in three principal ways: through his own groundbreaking research; as a teacher dedicated to sharing knowledge with the next generation of biochemical engineers; and as an author, editor, consultant and board member of a range of scientific organisations.

Belfort graduated from UCT with a BSc in 1963, followed by master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of California, Irvine. His research work has been described as transformational. In 2016 the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) held a series of honorary lectures in recognition of his role as a global expert in bioseparations. He has also made significant contributions towards understanding the process by which proteins misfold and lead to fibrils. Protein fibrils are common and cause problems with storing and delivering insulin, and are most commonly associated with Alzheimer’s disease. UCT awarded him an honorary doctorate in December 2019.

MARLENE BELFORTDr Marlene Belfort is an internationally acclaimed molecular geneticist. Her leading achievements include the self-splicing of introns in bacteriophage T4, and a detailed analysis of the splicing mechanism. Her research has stimulated debate over evolutionary origins. More recently Belfort’s work has led to the development of a model for the mechanism of intron evolution that is not only applicable to prokaryotes but may shed light on vertebrate genes as well.

Belfort graduated from UCT with a BSc in 1965, followed by doctoral and postdoctoral work at the University of California, Irvine, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She currently holds the position of distinguished professor of molecular genetics, biomedical sciences, School of Public Health, State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany in New York. She is also a distinguished scientist at the Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health. Belfort is the only SUNY Albany faculty member who has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences. UCT awarded her an honorary doctorate in December 2019.

DENIS GOLDBERG

Dr Denis Goldberg was one of the central figures in the liberation of our country, and is considered a moral beacon for the new South Africa. In recognition of his courageous and selfless role in the anti-apartheid struggle, UCT awarded him an honorary doctorate in July 2019. He passed away in April 2020, aged 87.

Goldberg obtained his BSc in civil engineering from UCT in 1955. He was an anti-apartheid activist and a member of the Modern Youth Society; he served the Congress of Democrats as treasurer and chairperson at various times; and he was active on an organising committee for the Congress of the People. His political activism led to his dismissal from his job on the South African Railways, and in 1960 he was detained for four months and declared a banned person. Three years later he joined Umkhonto weSizwe as a technical officer and worked on the plan for Operation Mayibuye. Later in the year he was arrested at Liliesleaf Farm in Rivonia and, following the Rivonia Trial, was sentenced to four terms of life imprisonment in 1964. As the only white person convicted, he was isolated from his comrades and imprisoned in Pretoria. During his incarceration he obtained a degree in public

administration (1969), a BA (1975) and a degree in library science (1981). He was finally released from prison in 1985.

After his release, Goldberg served in the London Mission of the ANC as spokesperson until 1994. He returned to South Africa in 2002 and served as a special advisor to two successive ministers of Water Affairs. Despite the multiple influential positions Goldberg held in the state and party, he always retained the ability to be deeply critical of those transgressing what he sees as the core values of the ruling party. He was a fierce critic of “state capture” by external forces, and of the degrading of the moral stature of the party he joined as a young man – for which he said he was prepared to die. Throughout his life he was fearless in speaking truth to power.

He made substantial contributions to civil society, serving as director and honorary president of the development organisation Community HEART (Health, Education and Reconstruction Training) in London, and establishing the Denis Goldberg Legacy Foundation Trust.


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JONATHAN DAVID JANSENProfessor Jonathan Jansen is an internationally-renowned scholar and expert in education. He is known for his bold and challenging views on education transformation, racial reconciliation and unity. Under his leadership as vice chancellor, and despite setbacks, the University of the Free State (UFS) has made great strides towards integration.

Janson achieved his first undergraduate degree at the University of the Western Cape (BSc), his teaching credentials at UNISA (BEd, HED), and his postgraduate education in the United States (MS, Cornell; PhD, Stanford). He was a Fulbright Scholar at Stanford University (2007–2008), and served as a fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford in 2016 and 2017.

In recognition of his contribution to education, Jansen has received honorary doctorates from the University of Edinburgh, the University of Vermont and Cleveland State University. In 2013 he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for Africa at the Education Africa Global Awards in New York, as well as the University of California’s Spendlove Prize for his contribution to tolerance, democracy and human rights. He has published several books and is a columnist in leading newspapers in the country. UCT awarded him an honorary doctorate in July 2019.

DAVID ROGER JONES OWEN

Professor David Owen is an international authority on finite element and discrete element techniques, and one of the researchers responsible for building the field of computational mechanics from nascence to maturity. This field sits at the intersection of applied mathematics, computing and engineering. It enables so-called in silico experimentation, in which material properties and behaviour are tested using computer-based simulation. Owen is globally recognised as having pioneered novel techniques that have led to major shifts in approaches to complex problems in mechanics.

After undertaking his initial degrees at Swansea University, he completed his PhD at Northwestern University in the field of theoretical and applied mechanics. He is Professor of Civil Engineering at Swansea University, Wales, and was recently elected a member of the Civil Engineering Panel for the UK Research Excellence Framework exercise to be undertaken in 2021. Owen’s achievements have been recognised through a number of awards and honours, including the Gauss-Newton Medal, which is the highest award in his discipline.

Owen must also be noted for his equivalent skills as an entrepreneur. He founded a company, Rockfield Ltd, which functions at the interface between research and development in designing innovative computational approaches to the solution of complex problems in industry. Under his leadership, the company has twice received the Queen’s Award for Innovation, and has allowed him to translate his significant research contributions directly into practice, thus benefiting both industry and society.

Professor Owen has been associated with UCT for more than 35 years, through his interaction with the Centre for Research in Computational and Applied Mechanics (CERECAM). He has been instrumental in the growth of computational mechanics as an area of research and postgraduate study at the university, that now enjoys a significant international profile. Further collaboration at UCT and elsewhere in South Africa has seen the launch and maintenance of regular conference series on computational mechanics, at national and continental levels. UCT awarded him an honorary doctorate in July 2019.


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Kuys was the founder of the Retreat African Adult Night School, a Cape Town based education program initiated in 1945 that offered evening classes to adult “Africans” deprived of an education prior to and during apartheid. Inspired by his strong belief in the importance of education, Kuys founded the night school where he, along with other volunteers that he commandeered from UCT, offered literacy and post-literacy evening classes for African adults near the Blouvlei informal settlement in Retreat.

In the first newsletter about the Retreat Night School issued in April 1946 Kuys wrote:

“Ten months ago the school started with thirty African pupils and a handful of University students as teachers. There were four classes, held on two evenings every week. Today we have over eighty pupils on our register, the school is open on four evenings a week, and there are eight classes, going as far as J.C. (grade 10). This advance has not been easy. Money was needed to obtain books and stationery, supplementary books had to be written to meet the particular needs of adults, and the staff had to be considerably increased.

Apart from a Government Night School at Langa location which only teaches as far as standard 4

(grade 6) this is the only institution of its kind in the Cape Peninsula. It is estimated that there are about sixty thousand Africans in the Cape Peninsula, most of them illiterate, and having but a scant knowledge of English or Afrikaans. It is not surprising that the school draws its pupils from as far as Sea Point and Simonstown. Many of them pay as much as ten or fifteen shillings a month for their train fares, this out of an average wage of seven pounds a month.

Attendance at the school is free, books and stationery included. Classes are held in two halls off Fifth Ave., Retreat, loaned by the Presbyterian Church. Six classes are held in the large hall, and two in the small one. Desks and blackboards installed in the day school are used by permission of the Education Department.”

From these small beginnings, a significant voluntary adult education movement developed until, at the peak of its expansion, there were night schools located at 14 different sites in the Cape Peninsula.

In 1948 Kuys left South Africa to Montreal, eventually settling in Vancouver in 1951. He was a great businessman and entrepreneur and was known to always take the high road in his dealings with people, both personal and professional. This character trait was recognised by Rosemary Brown, the first black Canadian woman to be elected to a Canadian provincial legislature and the first black woman to run for the leadership of a Canadian federal party.

In her earlier years in Canada, Brown, originally from Jamaica, experienced racism when attempting to purchase her first home in Vancouver. Kuys, a realtor at the time, explained to the property sellers that he had left South Africa to escape racism and he would not tolerate it in Canada. He added that if the sellers would not sell their property to

Brown and her husband due to racial considerations, he would not sell their property to anyone. The sellers consequently backed down and Brown and her husband were able to settle in Vancouver. Recounting this experience in her biography, Brown describes her meeting of Oliver Kuys as an “unexpected act of wonder”.

In later life, Kuys donated over R2 million to UCT, for both the

Schools Improvement Initiative and SHAWCO Education. UCT will always be grateful to him for this immense generosity, and will always remember his incredible, lifelong commitment to education for all.

PAYING TRIBUTE TO THE LATE OLIVER ANTHONY KUYSIn the 1940s, while a young engineering graduate from UCT, the late Oliver Anthony Kuys catalysed a movement of adult education in Cape Town. He later showed incredible generosity by donating R2 million to the Schools Improvement Initiative and to SHAWCO Education. Kuys died peacefully at home with his family in his 95th year on January 27, 2019.

Oliver Kuys graduated from UCT with a BSc in engineering in the mid 1940s.

Oliver Kuys donated over R2 million to UCT, for both the Schools Improvement Initiative and SHAWCO Education, and had an incredible, lifelong commitment to

education for all.

Oliver Kuys was an “unexpected act of wonder”.


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Mabuza, the CCOAT’s project coordinator for malaria field studies and elimination activities, was presented with the award by MRC president Professor Glenda Gray at a gala dinner in July 2019.

Mabuza is the former manager of Mpumalanga’s malaria programme, where he not only improved community protection against the disease but also recognised the need for – and contributed to – research into developing better methods for malaria parasite and mosquito vector control. Post retirement he has continued working to further research into parasite control with the southern Africa regional hub of the WorldWide Antimalarial Resistance Network (WWARN) and CCOAT.

In an extraordinary career that has spanned almost four decades, Mabuza has been a keen collaborator with malaria programmes and researchers across Africa, including in Mozambique, Comoros, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana and Sierra Leone.

Born in Mpumalanga, Mabuza grew up knowing about malaria as a killer disease. He attended under-resourced rural schools, leaving school before he could finish matric to help support his family. In 1977, he started work as a health assistant in the Department of Health, working on tuberculosis control, immunisation and public health education. He joined the malaria programme as a malaria control field officer in 1983, and it

was during this time that he also completed matric.

In 1988 he became an environmental health officer, with his responsibilities including cholera monitoring and investigation of typhoid cases. This paved the way for his return to the Mpumalanga Provincial Malaria Programme in 1991, where he rose steadily through the ranks to become the provincial malaria control programme manager from 2004 to 2014.

Mabuza has often repeated that malaria control, let alone elimination, cannot be achieved in isolation, a sentiment shared by CCOAT and WWARN, which have more than 280 partners globally.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR EFFORTS TO ELIMINATE MALARIAAaron Mabuza of UCT’s Collaborating Centre for Optimising Antimalarial Therapy (CCOAT) earned the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award from the South African Medical Research Council’s (MRC) Office of Malaria Research for his extraordinary contribution to efforts to eliminate malaria in South Africa.

“I’ve encountered incredible individuals from all sectors, from the researchers, on the executive, in my own office, the security and cleaning staff. I’ve learned so much from them in different ways and that I really value enormously.”

Sienaert retired at the end of 2019, having made a massive impact on maintaining and furthering UCT’s reputation as the top university in Africa and a leader in the global south.

But for her, it’s all about the people. While there really are far too many to mention, she does acknowledge a few, particularly those who have influenced and mentored her. The first are the deputy vice chancellors under whom she has served since September 2000 (Dr Sibusiso Sibisi, Professor Danie Visser, Professor Cheryl de la Rey),

and Vice-Chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng. “She’s shaken this place up in such a good way and re-energised us,” said Sienaert of Phakeng.

The outgoing executive director reserves her highest praise for the Research Office’s deputy director, Christina Pather. “Truly, she is an amazing person … She’s very grounded, with impeccable integrity and just so good at what she does, with a very generous spirit,” said Sienaert. “I think of everyone at UCT that I’ve encountered, she probably stands out most.”

In her time as executive director, Sienaert has, among her lengthy list of achievements and contributions, led the Research Office, the Office of Research Integrity, the Directorate of Postgraduate Studies

and Researcher Development, and the Postgraduate Centre and Funding Office. She has managed large, multi-year donor projects, published on higher education leadership and management, received and accepted several professional advisory support and broader research management community invitations, and served on at least 11 local and international committees, fora and communities of practice.

Sienaert’s contribution to the research enterprise at UCT is undeniable. Equally undeniable is her appreciation of the importance of research. According to Sienaert, virtually all UCT’s research has impact locally, bettering the lives of South Africans whether in quick, tangible ways, through problem-solving interdisciplinary work, or at a policy-making level.

UCT BIDS FAREWELL TO RESEARCH STALWART, DR MARILET SIENAERTReflecting on two decades of service at UCT, Dr Marilet Sienaert, the executive director for Research, says the opportunity to build relationships with so many people is what made the experience so enjoyable over the years.

Dr Marilet Sienaert reflects on two decades of service at UCT.

Aaron Mabuza (second from right) with his Lifetime Achievement Award. He is seen here with (from left) executive secretary of the African Leaders Malaria Alliance Joy Phumaphi, Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize, MRC president Prof Glenda Gray and Prof Tawana Kupe, vice chancellor of the University of Pretoria.

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Corder studied at UCT in the 1970s, leading several student organisations during this time. He completed his LLB degree at Cambridge University in 1979, and went on to Oxford University to earn his doctorate in 1982. He began his academic career in the Faculty of Law at Stellenbosch University in 1983, before returning to UCT as the professor of Public Law in 1987. Between then and 2019, he served as dean of Law (1999 to 2008), as director of Postgraduate Studies across the university (2012), and as acting deputy vice chancellor (2016 to 2017). He was elected as a fellow of the University in 2004.

Corders’ main teaching and research interests fall within the field of constitutional and administrative law, particularly judicial appointment and accountability, and mechanisms to improve administrative accountability.

He is a highly respected author, having written and edited many books, and published more than 100 chapters, articles and conference papers. Through

membership of the committee which drafted the first Bill of Rights, Corder participated in the 1993 negotiations that led to the establishment of a constitutional democracy in South Africa. He was also involved in several other initiatives in the reform of Parliament in the 1990s.

Throughout his life, Corder has been incredibly active in civil society, pursuing social justice, legal education, human rights protection, and the abolition of capital punishment. He supports a number of NGOs, journals and councils, and serves as a director at Freedom Under Law and at the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation; as a member of the executive committee of the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution; as a trustee of the African Scholars’ Fund; and on multiple editorial boards. In his position as emeritus professor, Corder is currently the interim director of the Graduate School of Business.

The university would like to pay tribute to his 32 years of public and institutional service.

From being a law student in the 1970s, to becoming a professor of Public Law in 1987, dean of the Law Faculty in 1999, and being named a fellow of the University in 2004, Professor Hugh Corder is truly committed to UCT.

Dr Elaine Potter completed her D.Phil. at Nuffield College, Oxford, where she studied the Political Role of the Press in South Africa. This research subsequently became her first published book. Thereafter, Potter wrote for the Sunday Times and co-authored several Sunday Times books, including Suffer the Children: The Story of Thalidomide and Destination Disaster: From the Tri-Motor to the DC10. She has edited the holocaust memoir A Jump for Life and collaborated on The Murdoch Archipelago.

Dr David Potter CBE completed his undergraduate degree at UCT in 1963 and thereafter studied natural sciences at Trinity College, Cambridge. He completed a doctorate in mathematical physics at Imperial College London, where

he was subsequently appointed as a staff member. As an academic during the 1970s, he taught at London University and the University of California. In 1980 David Potter founded Psion, a company that became a leader in software for home microcomputers, and pioneered the management of personal information by inventing ‘The Organiser’, the world’s first volume hand-held computers for personal use. Dr Potter was awarded the CBE, in 1997, for services to the manufacturing industry and in 2001 was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineers. Dr Potter was awarded an honorary doctorate from UCT in 2011, and also holds honorary degrees at other universities including Edinburgh, Sheffield and York.

In 1999, the Potters founded The David and Elaine Potter Foundation to encourage a stronger, fairer society. Through the Foundation they provide grants that promote reason, education, and human rights, in the hope of improving mutual understanding, reinforcing good governance, and encouraging the growth and maintenance of a robust civil society, particularly in less developed countries.

In their personal capacity and through the Foundation, the Potter’s have raised and donated over R27 million to UCT. These funds have sponsored postgraduate bursaries through The David and Elaine Potter Fellowships Programme, as well as endowment and community outreach initiatives. The Potters have also been UCT Chancellor’s Circle donors since 2014 and recipients of the Chancellor’s Circle Gold Pin.

They’ve used other initiatives to invest further in South Africa, including: amandla.mobi, Section27, Socio-Economic Rights Institute of SA, CHIVA Africa, Equal Education, FunDza Literacy Trust, Global Teachers Institute, Ikamva Youth, Numeric and Open University.

ELAINE AND DAVID POTTER AWARDED

VC MEDALSEach year the vice chancellor awards medals to individuals who have made important contributions to UCT. In 2019, Vice-Chancellor Phakeng awarded VC medals to Dr Elaine Potter and Dr David Potter.

Professor Hugh Corder, UCT law

student, professor, dean and fellow.

A TRIBUTE TO PROFESSOR HUGH CORDER FOR THREE DECADES OF DEDICATED SERVICE


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Pauline’s parents Sam and Rachel Hackner arrived in South Africa as Lithuanian immigrants after the First World War. The middle of three daughters, Pauline attended Gordon Road Girls School and Durban Girls College before heading to UCT. She chose UCT because of its speech and drama department and was an enthusiastic and active member of the UCT dramatic society.

Her interest in drama had begun as a child when she was the first private pupil of Elizabeth Sneddon, who went on to become Professor of the Speech and Drama department at the University of Natal, Durban.

While studying at UCT, Pauline met and became engaged to Allan Goldberg, a medical graduate of the University of Witwatersrand. They married in 1941 and apart from a brief stint in Mpumalanga, where Allan was a locum, Pauline lived all her life in Durban.

Soon after setting up home, Pauline was approached by a former school friend to join her as a volunteer teacher at Clairwood Coloured School, which she duly did. The beginning of a long association with the coloured community at many schools across Durban, it provided a learning curve for Pauline, who gained insight into some of the degradations her colleagues faced daily.

She also taught at a school for cerebral palsied children, read to youngsters at the Musgrave library and was a “granny teacher” at Berea Road School.

Pauline was a supportive doctor’s wife and a busy mother of four children. As a couple, the Goldbergs were community-conscious, charity-driven and active members of diverse societies. Pauline was chairwoman of the Durban branch of Magen David Adom (the Jewish Red Cross) and in 1976 she joined the educational group of Women for Peaceful Change Now.

After her husband died in 1985, Pauline sought out new challenges. She took French lessons, played bridge and tennis, and joined the Shakespeare Society and the Peripatetic Society, to name but some.

It was a tribute to Pauline that family and friends crowded into her flat in Durban to celebrate her 100th birthday last year and it was a great joy to her that she was serenaded on the day by children from Gordon Road Girls School and Durban Girls College. Until relatively recently, Pauline had continued to attend events at her junior school, where she was something of an icon.

A lively and imaginative teacher, Pauline’s curiosity about life – and especially education – never abated. She was at home in the company of all age groups and, throughout their lives, she extracted “grains of knowledge” from her children’s friends.

Pauline was an inspiration not only to her family but to everyone with whom she came into contact. Comments about her joie de vivre, her genuine interest in everyone she met, her undiminished curiosity and her dedication to education were common responses to obituaries posted on social media.

Pauline leaves behind her children Melvin Goldberg, Elaine Potter, RoseLee Goldberg and Suzanne Brenner, their husbands David Potter, Dakota Jackson and Richard van der Westhuizen, eight grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Indirectly part of Pauline’s legacy to UCT, her son Melvin Goldberg, now retired, was a lecturer in the UCT Sociology Department, while her daughter, Dr Elaine Potter, and Elaine’s husband Dr David Potter, are donors to the university through The David and Elaine Potter Charitable Foundation, and both recipients of VC medals (see page 68).

REMEMBERING PAULINE GOLDBERGWith her joie de vivre, her genuine interest in everyone she met, her undiminished curiosity and her dedication to education, UCT alumna Pauline Goldberg (née Hackner) was an inspiration to all she met. She died peacefully in her Durban home on 19 January 2020, just months after reaching her 100th birthday. In this touching tribute, Suzanne Brenner, Goldberg’s daughter, tells the story of her mother’s life.

Younger years: Pauline as a UCT student in the late 1930s.

Pauline celebrating her 100th birthday with three of her four children, Elaine, Suzanne, and Melvin.

Pauline backstage at The Little Theatre, UCT, in the late 1930s.Pauline and her husband, Allan Goldberg, in the 1940s.


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We are fortunate to have close to 170,000 alumni spread across over 121 countries globally, with an increasing number of alumni in other African countries. Our alumni are diverse in terms of race, gender, age, ability, marital status, sexual orientation, belief, culture, language and geography. But we are all united in our passion for our alma mater.

Working together for our common benefitA majority of us alumni want to be of assistance to others. We want to help the next generation of scholars and entrepreneurs, often because we enjoy relative privilege and want to share what we have with those who have less. We may also want to “give back” to society to express our gratitude for the excellent education we received. This desire often stems from a concern for

others and a commitment to making the world a better place.

While the recipients of our money do benefit from this assistance, this approach to social action and social justice – in which the one party gives and the other receives – may ultimately undermine our ability to achieve a more just world. The beneficiary-recipient relationship can reinforce ingrained stereotypes of givers as experts and donors, and recipients as needy, passive and lacking agency over their own destiny.

Perhaps it is time to redefine the standard call for altruism into a demand for shared responsibility. Our personal wellbeing is linked to the collective wellbeing of our communities. In approaching our work to “give back”, perhaps we should begin not with the intention

to help the “other”, but with an intention to work together for our common benefit.

The enterprise of alumni relationsBuilding on 2018’s theme of “connecting, reconnecting and reaching out to our diverse alumni”, during 2019 the AAB and the Alumni Relations office focused on strengthening relationships with existing active alumni whilst also reaching out to disengaged, predominantly black alumni, who in many instances had negative experiences at UCT.

The enterprise of alumni relations is much more than sending out the odd email. It is about knowing who our alumni are, where they are located, and what their areas of expertise and interest are. It is about forging relationships with them, finding out how they would like to engage with UCT, and what they would like to offer to UCT in terms of time, expertise or money. It requires committed volunteers and staff, and appropriate investment of resources to support the widest possible engagement with alumni.

I want to acknowledge that many of our alumni engagements were made possible through the Alumni Relations team’s successful corporate sponsorship work, and that and many of these engagements resulted in alumni giving.

Some of the key alumni engagement events that took place during 2019 include the following:

• Events in support of the vice chancellor’s initiatives, including: the institutional “For Women by Women” campaign to celebrate National Women’s Month; the UCT Student Distress Fund; the Food Security Programme; and the African Leaders’ Programme.

• Alumni dinners hosted abroad.

• Alumni lifestyle events ranging from cycling, marathons, golf, jazz and cars.

• Alumni Speaker Series events and alumni book launches.

• Alumni milestone events such as residence reunions, faculty reunions and Golden Graduations.

• Student facing events: Orientation, Semester Study Abroad cohorts, Faculty and SRC collaborations.

• Support rendered to alumni chapters and affinity groups.

• Collaborative events staged with UCT department and units.

• Collaborative events staged with external partners (e.g., Community Chest, Denis Goldberg House of Hope).

To end, I want to encourage alumni to work together to help realize the 2030 Vision of a transformed, sustainable university committed to excellence. We need to support the UCT priority project, initiate and/or join alumni chapters, and participate in alumni events either in person or remotely.

UCT belongs to all of us. We need to continue to work together to accelerate UCT’s efforts to become an even more inclusive, excellent, engaged and socially-responsive institution.

Dianna M. Yach

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR OF THE ALUMNI ADVISORY BOARDDuring 2019, the Alumni Advisory Board (AAB) worked to actively engage with UCT’s alumni community. The concerted engagement efforts were made possible by the inspiring, behind-the-scenes volunteer work done by AAB members, the committed service of the Alumni Relations team led by Libo Msengana-Bam, and the passionate support of Vice-Chancellor Mamokgethi Phakeng and her leadership team. In this message, AAB Chairperson Dianna M. Yach, reflects on these engagements.

Dianna M. Yach, chair of the Alumni Advisory Board.

Three generations of UCT alumni at the Alumni Association AGM: Anja Ritchie; Gaby Ritchie and Dr Joce Kane-Burman with Dianna Yach.


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ALUMNI EVENTS

1-2. Parents and first year students visited the alumni relations stall at the Parent Orientation event held in January 2019 on UCT plaza. 3-4. Over 140 alumni attended the UCT Alumni Jazz Experience hosted by Vice-Chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng. Proceeds from the live auction of sponsored prizes along with donations from guests went to the UCT Food Programme. 5. Golden Graduation 2019 attendees pictured here with executive director of the Development and Alumni Department, Dr Russell Ally (front, centre) and UCT President of Convocation, Professor Eddy Maloka (front, far right).

6. Members of the UCT Cycling Team networked with alumni at the Alumni Relations hospitality marquee at the 2019 Cape Town Cycle Tour event. The UCT Cycling Team is sponsored by fellow UCT alumnus, Andrew Ratcliffe. 7. The UCT celebration of Africa Month featured a keynote speech delivered by renowned academic Professor Ibrahim Agboola Gambari. 8. Brenda Skelenga, Khwezi Bonani and Lumka Daniel were among the guests at the UCT Alumni Jazz Experience hosted by Vice-Chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng. 9. ‘On becoming a writer’ alumna, novelist and poet, Dr Finuala Dowling shared her inspirational journey to becoming a published author. 10. Alumni were invited to the launch of ‘Day Zero: one city’s response to a record-breaking drought’ authored by UCT academic and alumna, Associate Professor Gina Ziervogel and Leonie Joubert.

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16. Dean Hodgskiss, Dr Esau Muluh Ticha and Dr Peter Ma attended the Biomedical Engineering 50th anniversary celebration held in September 2019. 17. Chair of the UCT Alumni Advisory Board, Dianna Yach with fellow alumni Keith Gottschalk and Lillian Gordon pictured here at the Alumni Association AGM. 18. A screening of Dr Denis Goldberg’s documentary: ‘Life is Wonderful: Mandela’s Unsung Heroes’, held in partnership with the Denis Goldberg Legacy Foundation Trust and Snoekies Restuarant. Proceeds from the sale of tickets to alumni went to the Denis Goldberg House of Hope Arts and Education Centre in Hout Bay. 19. UCT Vice-Chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng hosted a dinner with alumni in Dublin, Ireland. She was accompanied by Deputy-Vice Chancellor Professor Sue Harrison.

11-13. As part of the ‘For Womxn, By Womxn’ event series, alumni were invited to join the vice chancellor at a series of special Women’s Day drive experiences hosted in partnership with Nedbank Retail and Business Banking, SMG Jaguar Landrover Constantiaberg and Jaguar Landrover Experience Centre in Lonehill. 14. Dizu Plaatijies and Ibuyambo had the audience dancing at the UCT Africa Day Symposium dinner, held in May 2019. 15. UCT Vice-Chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng hosted a networking dinner with alumni in Kigali, Rwanda where she shared her vision for the university.

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2019 saw the launch of the London Chapter. This chapter has a strong focus on mentoring, and aims to connect alumni in the United Kingdom (UK) with current UCT students who are considering relocating to the UK for studies, in order to give them informal advice on postgraduate studies, accommodation, lifestyle, and opportunities.

This chapter provides the Young Alumni Network (YAN) in particular a tangible way of giving back to UCT, and is active through both LinkedIn, and through UCT Alumni Connect - a digital

connection platform launched by UCT in 2017.

In May 2019 UCT alumna Capucine Deroulede and UCT Trust’s Amelia Tindale. They describe the mission of YAN as follows:

“The UCT YAN UK’s mission is to nurture the growth of a young UCT Alumni community with the aim of both empowering our members as talented individuals and UCT as a leading African university. With around 500 Alumni under the age of 35 living in the UK from all professional backgrounds, the UCT YAN UK membership is growing

steadily. We stand to support the VC’s vision of Excellence, Transformation and Sustainability through our collective actions and local partnerships in the UK. We invite all new UCT graduates making their way to the UK to join this network. We look forward to giving you a warm South African welcome at one of our events!”

The London Chapter aims to hold one event every quarter, depending on available resources, and uses online surveys to get a sense of the kinds of events and topics that interest the chapter alumni.

UPDATES FROM INTERNATIONAL ALUMNI CHAPTERS

During 2019 the Mauritian UCT alumni envisioned establishing a chapter, after 29 Mauritian alumni expressed an interest in having one.

In February 2020, the chapter held its first alumni elective meeting at the Flying Dodo Brewery Conference Room in Bagatelle. During the meeting, which was chaired by Ms. Tashinga Matindike-Gondo,

the committee was confirmed, and their roles outlined.

The chapter intends to organise three meetings and two events per year, the list of which will include networking opportunities for chapter members, social and cultural evenings, fundraisers, professional development opportunities, and internships.

UCT alumni chapters and associations play a critical role in amplifying the work of the Development and Alumni Department.

The growing network of international groups helps to broaden the reach of UCT’s fundraising initiatives, create institutional networks, and facilitate connections to new potential donors. The network also helps to create mentorship and employment opportunities for

students and graduates, and support the recruitment of the next generation of top applicants in diverse regions of the world.

Currently over 20 such international groups exist including those in South Africa (Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth), Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe, New Zealand and Switzerland.

MAURITIAN CHAPTER

LONDON CHAPTER

Mauritian alumni having their first committee elective meeting in February 2020.

Members of the UK’s Young Alumni Network with Vice-Chancellor Mamogkethi Phakeng.


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UCT annually hosts ambassadors and Consul Generals at a breakfast at the vice chancellor’s residence in order to update them on developments at the university and develop relationships that can garner support for projects on campus. These photographs were taken at the breakfast held in February 2019.

FUNDRAISING EVENTS

UCT Trust hosted a dinner for 80 alumni and friends at the South African High Commission in London to raise funds for the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance.

Anti-apartheid activist Lord Peter Hain (middle) with Dr Russell Ally and alumna Anne Page.

Alumni guests. Dinner guests were entertained by opera school alumni, Cecilia Rangwanasha and Zwakele Mshengu.

AMBASSADORS AND CONSUL GENERALS BREAKFAST

CHANCELLOR DINNER - LONDON


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EVENTS IN THE USA LAW EVENTS

Several alumni events were held in the USA, including a reception with Vice-Chancellor Mamokgethi Phakeng in March 2019, and a braai on the beach in Chicago in June 2019.

During 2019, UCT held a Law event at the offices of Davis Polk & Wardwell in London, during which a canape reception followed a talk by Dean of Law, Professor Danwood Chirwa.


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IN MEMORIAMThe University of Cape Town extends its

condolences to the family, friends and loved ones of alumni who have passed away over

the last year.

Brass, Andrew (Mr)

Brodie, Marguerita (Dr)

Canto, Sonja (Ms)

Croome, Beric (Dr)

Goldberg, Denis (Dr)

Goldberg, Pauline (Mrs)

Grimwood, Sakina (Ms)

Gurney, John (Em Prof)

Hartman, Sidwill (A/Prof)

Hersov, Christopher (Mr)

Kuys, Oliver (Mr)

Michaelides, Nicholas (Mr)

Reynolds, Leonie (Mrs)

Savage, Michael (Prof)

Seymour, Michael (Dr)

Sher, Michael (Mr)

Woolf, Neville (Prof)

Yach, Estelle (Mrs)

Yach, Theodore (Mr)

Whilst every effort has been made to publish as complete and accurate a list as possible, it is possible that somea details may have been incorrectly captured, or some alumni omitted. We sincerely apologise for any errors

or omissions.

FOUNDATIONS, TRUSTS, AND CORPORATESPLATINUM CIRCLE

Foundations, Trusts, and Corporates that have made donations to UCT totalling R50 million and above (listed alphabetically)

• The Andrew W Mellon Foundation• The Atlantic Philanthropies (Bermuda) Ltd• Carnegie Corporation of New York• Claude Leon Foundation• The ELMA Philanthropies Services Inc• Ford Foundation USA

• The Harry Crossley Foundation• Hasso Plattner Stiftung• The MasterCard Foundation• The Michael and Susan Dell Foundation• Minerals Education Trust Fund• The Rockefeller Foundation

• The Albert Wessels Trust• Anglo American Chairman’s Fund• The Bertha Foundation• Cancer Research Trust• The DG Murray Trust• Estate Late Elias Bertrand Levenstein• The Gabriel Foundation• Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies

Contribution Fund

• The Kresge Foundation• The Mauerberger Foundation Fund• Moshal Scholarship Program• Novartis Research Foundation• The Raith Foundation• Thuthuka Education Upliftment Fund• The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation• The Wolfson Foundation

GOLD CIRCLE

Foundations, Trusts, and Corporates that have made donations to UCT totalling between R25 million and R50 million (listed alphabetically)

SILVER CIRCLE


• ABSA Bank Limited• Actuarial Society of South Africa• AXA Research Fund• Bank Sector Training and Education Authority• The Children’s Hospital Trust• Daphne Cockwell Family• The David and Elaine Potter Charitable Foundation• Discovery Foundation• Discovery Fund• Donald Gordon Foundation• Doris Duke Charitable Foundation• Embassy of People’s Republic of China• Eskom Holdings Ltd• FirstRand Bank Limited• FirstRand Empowerment Foundation• The FirstRand Foundation• The Ford Foundation SA• The Frank Robb Charitable Trust• Garfield Weston Foundation• GetSmarter• Government of Flanders• International Development Research Centre

• The Irwinton Foundation Inc• James Sivewright Scratchley Will Trust• John and Margaret Overbeek Trust• Johnson & Johnson Services Inc• Kaplan Kushlick Educational Foundation• Liberty Holdings Ltd• National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund• The Nellie Atkinson Trust• Open Society Foundation for South Africa• The Oppenheimer Memorial Trust• The Raymond Ackerman Foundation• Sigrid Rausing Trust• The South African National Roads Agency Ltd• Standard Bank Group Ltd• Tshemba Charitable Foundation NPC• Tullow Oil South Africa (Pty) Ltd• Unilever South Africa Home and Personal Care

(Pty) Ltd


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BRONZE CIRCLE


• The A & M Pevsner Charitable Trust• Abax Foundation• Abe Bailey Trust• Absa Group Limited• The Ackerman Family Educational Trust• Actuarial Society Development Trust• AECI Community Education and Development Trust• AECI Ltd• The African Development Bank Group• AfriSam (Pty) Ltd• Alliance for Open Society International• American Council of Learned Societies• Anglo American Platinum Ltd• Anglo Operations Ltd - Anglo Corporate Division• AngloGold Ashanti Ltd• Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa• Aspen Pharmacare Ltd• AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals (Pty) Ltd• Attorneys Fidelity Fund• Aurecon South Africa (Pty) Ltd• Aurum Charitable Trust• Australian High Commission• Autism South Africa• Ball Family Foundation• The Beit Trust• BirdLife South Africa• BM Raff Will Trust• Boehringer Ingelheim (Pty) Ltd• The Boston Consulting Group (Pty) Ltd• The Breadsticks Foundation• The Bright Future Foundation• British American Tobacco South Africa• The Calleva Foundation• Cape Gate (Pty) Ltd, Vanderbijlpark• Capebridge Trust Company (Pty) Ltd• The Carl and Emily Fuchs Foundation• Charles Stewart Mott Foundation• CHK Charities Ltd• The Chris Barnard Trust Fund• Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr Inc• COC Netherlands• The Davis Foundation• De Beers Marine Pty Ltd• Department for International Development (DFID),

Southern Africa• Department of Economic Development and Tourism• Department of Health (Western Cape)• The Derek Raphael Charitable Trust• Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation• Die Rupert-Musiekstigting• The Dora and William Oscar Heyne Charitable Trust• The Doris Crossley Foundation• Dow Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd

• Dr Stanley Batchelor Bursary Trust• Dr Vasan Govind Legacy Foundation Trust• Dr. Leopold und Carmen Ellinger Stiftung• Education Training and Development Practices

Sectoral Education Training Authority• EJ Lombardi Family Charitable Trust• Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung• Elsevier Foundation• Environment for Development Secretariat• Eranda Foundation• Eric and Sheila Samson Foundation• Ernest E and Brendalyn Stempel Foundation• Estate Harry Allschwang• Estate Late Anita Johanna Saunders• Estate Late Clifford Herbert Stroude Trust• Estate Late CW Eglin• Estate Late GJA Eibenberger• Estate Late Hajee Sulaiman ShahMahomed• Estate Late Hawa Patel• Estate Late IN Marks• Estate Late JM Griffiths• Estate Late RJHH Coldback• Estate Late RM Stegen• Estate Late Sandra Burman• Estate Late Sarah Turoff• Fetzer Institute• Food & Beverages Sector Training and Education

Authority• The Foschini Group Foundation• The Foschini Group Ltd• Gallagher Foundation• Garden Cities Inc• General Council of Bar of South Africa• General Electric South Africa (Pty) Ltd• GlaxoSmithKline plc• GlaxoSmithKline SA (Pty) Ltd• Global Change Institute - Wits University• Global Integrity• Goldman Sachs Charitable Fund• Goldman Sachs Foundation• Government Technical Advisory Centre• Green Leaves Ausbildungs-Stiftung• Griffith University• Guy Elliott Medical Fellowship Fund• Haematological Research Trust No 3253/95• Hanns Seidel Foundation South Africa• Harvard Business School Alumni Africa Initiative• Haw & Inglis (Pty) Ltd• HCI Foundation• Health and Welfare Sector Education and Training

Authority• Heinrich Böll Stiftung• The Hermann Ohlthaver Trust

• Hillensberg Trust Bursary• Hope for Depression Research Foundation• HR Hill Residuary Trust• HSBC Africa• Humanist Institute for Development Cooperation• IBA Human Rights Institute Trust• The Indigo Trust• The Institute of International Education Inc• Insurance Sector Education and Training Authority• International Bank for Reconstruction and

Development• The International Foundation for Arts and Culture• Investec Limited• The Jaks Trust• Janssen Pharmaceutica (Pty) Ltd• Joan St Leger Lindbergh Charitable Trust• The John Davidson Educational Trust• Johnson & Johnson (USA)• Jonathan and Jennifer Oppenheimer Foundation• JPMorgan Chase South African Trust Foundation• Julian Baring Scholarship Fund• The Justin and Elsa Schaffer Family UCT Scholarship

Trust• Kangra Group (Pty) Ltd• Karl Storz GmbH & Co KG• Keerweder (Franschoek) (Pty) Ltd• Komatsu Foundation Trust• KPMG, Johannesburg• KSB Pumps and Valves (Pty) Ltd• The Leanore Zara Kaplan Will Trust• Legal Practice Council• LEGO Foundation• The Leverhulme Trust• Life Healthcare Foundation• Lily & Ernst Hausmann Research Trust• Link-SA Fund• The Little Tew Charitable Trust• Lonmin Management Services• Lorenzo and Stella Chiappini Charitable and Cultural

Trust• The MAC AIDS Fund• Mai Family Foundation• The Maitri Trust• Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services

Sector Education and Training Authority• MariaMarina Foundation• Mary Oppenheimer & Daughters Foundation• The Maurice Hatter Foundation• Mediclinic (Pty) Ltd• Medicor Foundation• Medtronic Africa (Pty) Ltd• Medtronic Foundation• Millennium Trust• Misys Charitable Foundation• Mota Engil Construction South Africa (Pty) Ltd• MTU South Africa• The Myra Chapman Educational Trust• Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Centre

• National Arts Council of South Africa• National Bioproducts Institute• Nedbank Eyethu Community Trust• Nedbank Foundation• Nedgroup Trust Ltd• Nestlé South Africa (Pty) Ltd• Network of African Science Academies• New Settlers Foundation• Nigel & Judith Weiss Educational Trust• Novo Nordisk (Pty) Ltd• The Nuffield Foundation• OAK Foundation• Oasis Crescent Fund Trust• Old Mutual Emerging Markets Limited• Old Mutual Foundation (South Africa)• Open Philanthropy Project Fund• Open Society Foundations• The Ove Arup Foundation• PA Don Scholarship Trust• Pearson Plc• Percy Fox Foundation• Pfizer Laboratories (Pty) Ltd• The Philip Schock Charitable & Educational

Foundation• Picasso Headline (Pty) Ltd• PM Anderson Educational Trust• Primedia Ltd• Professional Provident Society Insurance Co Ltd• The Rand Merchant Bank Fund• Rand Merchant Bank, a Division of First Rand Bank

Ltd• Rand Merchant Investment Holdings Limited• RAPCAN• Retina South Africa• Rheinmetall Denell Munition (Pty) Ltd• Rhubarb and Company (Pty) Ltd• Rio Tinto Plc• Robert Bosch Stiftung• Roche Products (Pty) Ltd• Roche Products (Pty) Ltd - Diagnostics• The Rolf-Stephan Nussbaum Foundation• Rosalie van der Gucht Will Trust• Royal Norwegian Embassy• Ruth and Anita Wise Charitable and Educational

Trust• Sanlam Foundation• Sanlam Ltd• SAP South Africa (Pty) Ltd• The Sasol Social and Community Trust• The Saville Foundation• The Schroder Foundation• SCHWAB Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship• The Second Stella & Paul Loewenstein Educational

and Charitable Trust• SIEMENS Stiftung• The Silibona Educational Trust• Silicon Valley Community Foundation• Simons Foundation


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• The Skye Foundation Trust• SleepNet• Social Science Research Council• South African Institute of Chartered Accountants• South African Norway Tertiary Education

Development Programme• South African Penguins• South African Responsible Gambling Foundation• Southern African Music Rights Organisation• The Stella & Paul Loewenstein Educational and

Charitable Trust• Stevenson Family Charitable Trust• Students for a Better Future• Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation• Swiss-South African Co-Operation Initiative• TB/HIV Care Association• Tides Foundation• Trencor Services (Pty) Ltd• UCT Fund Inc (New York)• UCT Trust (UK)

• United Therapeutics Corporation• University of Oxford• Victor Glasstone Will Trust• Wallace Global Fund• The Waterloo Foundation• Wellspring Advisors, LLC• Welton Foundation• Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological

Research Inc• Western Platinum Ltd• The Wholesale & Retail Sector Education and

Training Authority (Cape Town)• The Wilfred Cooper Trust• The Wilhelm Frank Trust• Wine Industry Network of Expertise and Technology• Xstrata South Africa (Pty) Ltd• The Zamani African Cultural Heritage Sites and

Landscapes Foundation• The Zenex Foundation

FRIENDS OF UCT

Organisations that have made donations to UCT of up to R1 million634 organisations have generously shown their support through their donations to the university.

CHANCELLOR’S CIRCLE

Individuals whose gifts to UCT over a five-year period have totalled to R500,000 or above (listed alphabetically)

• Ackerman, Bruce Trevor (Mr)• Akinkugbe CON, Oludolapo Ibukun (Chief)• Bathe, Klaus-Jürgen (Prof)• Baumann, Thomas Lee (Dr)• Baumann, Sean Exner (Dr)• Beach, Helen (Dr)• Bloom, Anthony Herbert (Mr)• Brink, Johan Givan (Prof)• Carter, Charles Edward (Dr)• Cohen, Vivien (Ms)• Cooper, Peter (Mr)• Criticos, Nick (Mr)• Curry, Elgin John (Mr)• Danjuma, Theophilus Yakubu (General)• Dheda, Keertan (Prof)• Dillon, Kevin Edward (Mr)• Dippenaar, Ricky (Dr)• Dlamini, Nobuhle Judith (Dr)• Dobbs DBE, Linda (Hon Dame)• Domingo, Rashid (Mr)• Dower, Robert William (Mr)• Dumas, Marlene (Ms)• Dutkiewicz, Colin Ryszard (Mr)• Enthoven, Georgina Anne (Ms)• Falconer, Ian (Mr)• Fargher, Michael Thomas (Mr)• Farrant, Jill M (Prof)• Field, John Gerhardus (Em Prof)• Gild, William Morris (Dr)• Gnodde, Richard John (Mr)• Graham, John Malcolm (Dr)• Grieve, John AB (Mr)• Groves, Pauline Marguerite (Mrs)• Haas, Selwyn Philip (Mr)• Hayden, Michael Reuben (Dr)• Heber-Percy, Charlotte (Mrs)• Hill, Leslie Joseph (Mr)• Ihlenfeldt, Michael Jurgen Alexander (Dr)• Isdell, Edward Neville (Mr)• Jacobson, William Ralph (Mr)• Jennings, Christopher Mark Hubert (Dr)• Jones, Kenneth Downton (Mr)• Kemsley-Pein, Alasdair Jonathan (Mr)• Kumleben, Paul Etienne (Mr)• Kuys, Oliver Anthony (Mr)• Lubner, Gary (Mr)• Mai, Vincent Alexis (Mr)• McCallum, Malcolm (Em Prof)• McGregor, Charles Gavin (Mr)• McIntosh, Noel William Richard (Mr)• McIntosh, William (Mr)

• Michell, William Lancelot (Prof)• Noakes, Timothy David (Prof)• Norwitz, Trevor Saul (Mr)• Oppenheimer, Harry Frederick (Dr)• Oppenheimer, Nicholas Frank (Mr)• Palley, Simon (Mr)• Parker, Shafik Ahmed (Dr)• Potter CBE, David Edwin (Dr)• Price, Max (Dr)• Quirk, Patrick (Mr)• Reid, Trevor (Mr)• Robertson, Simon (Sir)• Robertson, Mary May (Prof)• Sainsbury of Preston Candover, John Davan (Lord)• Sandin, Hans Johan Patrik (Mr)• Shutt, Guy Richard (Mr)• Shuttleworth, Mark (Mr)• Simmons, James Anthony (Mr)• Stempel, Ernest Edward (Mr)• Stevens, Zoe (Ms)• Stevens, Georgina Hamilton (Ms)• Stewart, Alan James Harris (Mr)• Stubbs, Grant John Fredrick (Mr)• Surdut, Ben-Zion (Mr)• Tindale, Bruce Edgar (Mr)• Tomlinson, Blaine John (Mr)• Van Zyl, Johannes Jacobus Marthinus (Mr)• Wessels, Matthys Johannes (Mr)• Westwell, Stephen (Mr)• Wulff, Marsha D (Ms)• Zimmerman, Maurice Russel (Mr)

INDIVIDUAL DONORS


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DEAN’S CIRCLE

Individuals whose gifts to UCT over a five-year period have totalled between R100,000 and R250,000 (listed alphabetically)

• Adams, Bruce Keith (Dr)• Adriaans, Beverley Moira (Dr)• Alexander, Simon (Mr)• Antoniadis, John (Mr)• Anziska, Jeffrey Allan Brian (Dr)• Bailey, Ivor Ian (Mr)• Barnett-Harris, Robin Charles Andrew (Mr)• Barron, Peter Morris (Dr)• Beighton, Peter (Em Prof)• Belluzo, Charlyn (Dr)• Bishop, Bob (Mr)• Bloomberg, R David (Dr)• Blumberg, Henry Gerald (Mr)• Boshoff, Hendrina (Mrs)• Botha, Martin John (Mr)

• Bowman, Marcus Robin (Mr)• Boynton, Paul Norman (Mr)• Braude, Neil (Dr)• Braude, Walter Michael (Dr)• Brown, Malcolm Edward Osborne (Mr)• Brownstone, Michael Reginald (Mr)• Buchanan, Donald Jamieson (Mr)• Budlender, Geoffrey Michael (Adv)• Burton, Geoffrey James Charles (Mr)• Calligaro, Gregory Louis (Dr)• Cilliers, Francois J (Assoc Prof)• Cooper, Gesina (Mrs)• Croome, Beric John (Dr)• Davidian, Kenneth John (Dr)• Davidson, Jim (Mr)

• De Gruchy, Jeanelle Louise (Dr)• De Waal, Louis (Mr)• Deacon, Janette Clare Grace (Dr)• Denney, William (Mr)• Desebrock, Nigel Guy Grendon (Mr)• Dixon, Harry Joseph (Mr)• Drabkin, Alan (Dr)• Dryburgh, Peter Robert David (Dr)• Dullabh, Prashila (Dr)• Epstein, Martin (Mr)• Falck, Vincent George (Dr)• Farlam, Ian Gordon (The Hon Mr Justice)• Field, Brian Evert Stanley (Mr)• Forman, Arthur (Dr)• Franklin, Jeremy Stuart (Mr)• Freund, Michael Walter (Mr)• Fricke, Anthony Stephen (Mr)• Friedman, Lauren (Ms)• Fröhlich, Christoph (Dr)• Fury, Gregory William (Mr)• Gauntlett, Sybil Elizabeth Laura (Dr)• Gibson, David Andrew (Mr)• Golding, Pamela (Mrs)• Gould, Robert (Mr)• Gregoire, Fabbienne (Ms)• Gurney, John Joseph (Em Prof)• Harris, Charles (Mr)• Harrisson, Mary Ethel (Dr)• Hodgson, Vivien (Ms)• Holder, Christopher A (Mr)• Hope, Peter John Ledger (Mr)• Horner-Mibashan, Ruth (Dr)• Howie, Craig Telfer (The Hon Mr Justice)• Huxley, Robert D (Mr)• Ingle, Ronald Ferguson (Dr)• Jaffray, Andrew James (Mr)• Jobson, Megan Ruth (Dr)• Kentridge, William J (Mr)• Levett, Michael John (Dr)• Raymond & Kathleen Levitt Family Foundation• Levy, Michael Jeremy (Dr)• Livingstone, Hugh Jonathan (Mr)• Lutjeharms, Johann Reinder Erlers (Em Prof)• MacFarlane, Roger Ian (Mr)• Machel, Graça Simbine (Mrs)• MacRobert, Donald Lindsay (Mr)• Madden, Patrick Lindsay (Mr)• Maggs, Peter Roderick (Dr)• Malherbe, Paul (Dr)• Mancherje, Noel (Dr)• Mandela, Nelson Rolihlahla (Dr)• Mc Millan, James George (Mr)• McIntyre, Clive Neil (Mr)• Meachin, David JP (Mr)

• Merkel, Ron (Mr)• Miller, Leonard Benjamin (Dr)• Minners, Jan Oliver (Dr)• Mittermaier, Michael Erwin Richard (Dr)• Mogase, Mutle Constantine (Mr)• Muller, Elsie Maria (Prof)• Mullett, Craig Robin (Mr)• Naidoo, Kevin Jonathan (Prof)• Nicks, Simon Cartwright (Mr)• Ntseare, Thabo Molefi (Mr)• Nurick, Gerald Norman (Prof)• Okreglicki, Helena (Mrs)• Owen, Kenneth Frederick (Mr)• Parbhoo, Santilal Parag (Dr)• Parker, Gabby (Mrs)• Phakeng, Mamokgethi (Prof)• Pick, Meryl (Ms)• Pollock, Alan Victor (Dr)• Potash, Zena Cathryn (Dr)• Pupkewitz, Harold (Mr)• Ramphele, Mamphela Aletta (Dr)• Raphaely, Mark Daniel (Mr)• Ratcliffe, Liam Thomas (Dr)• Reich, Delise Thea (Mrs)• Reynolds, Peter John (Mr)• Robertson, Katharine Eleanor (Dr)• Rockefeller Jr., David (Mr)• Roditi, Spencer Nicholas (Mr)• Saunders, John Stuart (Mr)• Schlettwein, Carl (Dr)• Schmocker, Christoph Manuel (Mr)• Scott, Douglas Graham (The Hon Mr Justice)• Shwiel, Hyman (Mr)• Sitas, Aristides E (Prof)• Soudien, Crain Arthur (Prof)• Spiegel, Andrew David (Assoc Prof)• Stanford, Margaret Elspeth (Dr)• Stannard, Clare Elizabeth (Prof)• Stein, David M (Dr)• Stewart, Curtis Mark (Mr)• Szymonowics, Roman (Mr)• Thönell, Judy Elizabeth (Mrs)• Tupchong, Leslie (Dr)• Van Belle, Jean-Paul (Prof)• Van Heerden, Karen (Dr)• Watson, David Eric (Mr)• Westwood, Anthony Thomas Read (Assoc Prof)• White, Giles Lindsay (Mr)• White, Magdelena (Mrs)• Wiese, Jacob Daniel (Adv)• Wrighton, Peter George Abner (Mr)• Yudelman, Ian Mark (Dr)

VICE-CHANCELLOR’S CIRCLE

Individuals whose gifts to UCT over a five-year period have totalled between R250,000 and R500,000 (listed alphabetically)

• Ball, Antony Charles (Mr)• Bergman, Leslie Frank (Mr)• Berman, Robert Charles (Mr)• Berman KCMG QC, Franklin Delow (Sir)• Bock, Hans Dieter (Mr)• Botha, Roelof Frederik (Mr)• Boydell, John Nicholas (Mr)• Bradshaw, Deirdre Jane (Em Prof)• Budlender, Deborah Jean (Ms)• Campbell-White, Annette Jane (Ms)• Chigutsa, Emmanuel (Dr)• Clark, John Austin (Mr)• Cohen, Stewart Barnett (Mr)• Copelyn, John Anthony (Mr)• Cullinan, Reina (Mrs)• Dawson, Rodney (Dr)• Eglin, Colin Wells (Dr)• Ellis, George Francis R (Em Prof)• Favish, Judith Shamith (Ms)• Feldberg, Meyer (Prof)• Frankel OBE, William Henry (Mr)• Frater, Angela (Mrs)• Fullagar, Ernest Wanand (Dr)• Goodman, Isabel Alice (Adv)• Gutsche, Philipp Hugo (Mr)• Haas, Raymond Colin (Mr)• Helmut, Amos (Mr)• Jordaan, Johannes Petrus (Mr)• Keswick, John Chippendale (Lindley) (Sir)• Knutzen, Robert Jul (Mr)• Kurz Family Foundation• Lankester, Brett William (Mr)

• Mackay, Alistair Charles (Mr)• Matthey, J• McNamara, James Donald (Dr)• Menell, Irene (Mrs)• Miller, Malcom Andrew (Dr)• Moseneke, Dikgang (The Hon Justice)• Nel, Nicolene (Ms)• Nurick, Matthew Stephen (Mr)• Oates, John Keith (Mr)• Owen, Catherine Frances (Mrs)• Packer, Peter (Dr)• Patel, Hawa (Dr)• Pedler, Flora Diana (Mrs)• Phelps, Lyn (Mrs)• Posel, Deborah (Prof)• Potter, Elaine (Dr)• Rabinowitz, Benjamin Philip (Mr)• Rademeyer, Anthony Francis (Mr)• Raphaely, Adam (Mr)• Royan, Bruce (Dr)• Rüedy-Werren, Werner and Violanta (Mr & Mrs)• Ruiters, Alistair Paul (Dr)• Saville, Duncan Paul (Mr)• Schuringa, Kier (Mr)• Symons, Gregory John (Dr)• Tebbutt, Colin Dean (Dr)• Underhill, Leslie Gordon (Em Prof)• Walter, Paula Constance (Dr)• Westwood, Michael (Dr)• Wiese, Christoffel Hendrik (Dr)• Willcox, Paul (Prof)

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DEVELOPMENT AND ALUMNI DEPARTMENT:

Libo Msengana-BamSenior Manager: Alumni [email protected]+27 21 650 2641

Lu Nteya Alumni Relations [email protected] +27 21 650 1201

Ibtisaam Mathews Alumni Relations Events [email protected] +27 21 650 3746

FACULTY ALUMNI RELATIONS MANAGERS:

Commerce: Helga [email protected]+27 21 650 1593

Engineering and the Built Environment:Mary [email protected]+27 21 650 4108

Humanities:Yusuf [email protected] +27 21 650 4932

Health SciencesLinda [email protected]+27 21 406 6686

Law:Gabrielle [email protected]+27 21 650 5602

Science:Katherine [email protected]+27 21 650 2574

Centre for Higher Education Development:Vicki [email protected]+27 21 650 5163

Graduate School of Business:Morea [email protected]+27 21 406 1321

INTERNATIONAL OFFICES:

UCT Australian TrustRuth [email protected]

UCT Regional Office: CanadaDi [email protected]

UCT Trust (UK)Angela [email protected]

CONTACTS

UCT currently has alumni chapters in the following places: Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe, United Kingdom, Mauritius, New Zealand and Switzerland. Alumni affinity groups include: ‘The Spirit of 68’, the UCT Association of Black Alumni (UCTABA), Smuts Hall Residence and Fuller Hall Residence affinity groups.

Would you like to join an existing chapter or affinity group in your region, or initiate a new one? To find out more, contact UCT Alumni Relations Coordinator, Lu Nteya at: [email protected].

Stay connected to your alma mater. Join UCT ALUMNI CONNECT and connect to a global community of UCT alumni. Sign up at: www.uctalumniconnect.com.

Follow us:

FRIENDS OF UCT

Individuals whose gifts to UCT over a five-year period have amounted to R100,000 or less2,710 individuals have generously shown their support through their donations to the university

BEQUESTS

Individuals who have bequeathed a legacy gift to UCT in their wills.The Legacy Society has been steadily growing over the years, and in 2019 it grew by 22 members.

NOTE:As of January 2015, the levels of individual donors’ giving circles have changed as follows:

• Chancellor’s circle: formerly R250,000+, now R500,000+; • Vice-Chancellor’s Circle: formerly R100,000 – R250,000, now R250,000 – R500,000; • Dean’s circle: formerly R60,000 – R100,000, now R100,000 – R250,000; • Friends of UCT: formerly <R60,000, now <R100,000.

Please note that these changes only affect donations received after 1 January 2015. All donors who were members

of particular circles prior to January 2015, will continue to be recognised in their original circles, until the rolling

five-year giving period has elapsed.

We apologize for any omissions or errors. If you would like to query your donations totals, circle membership, or any other matter related to your gifts to UCT, please email: [email protected].

A full list of UCT donors is also available at www.uct.ac.za/main/donating-to-uct/donor-recognition.

• TGE is a partnership of leading European foundations and associations that facilitates secure and tax-efficient crossborder giving within Europe.

• The TGE network enables donors, both corporations and individuals, to financially support non-profit organisations in other member states, while benefiting directly from the tax advantages provided for in the legislation of their country of residence.

• All donations received by the UCT Trust are transferred to UCT in their entirety: the University pays the Trust’s operating costs.

There are several convenient ways in which you can contribute to UCT, including through an Electronic Funds Transfer (see bank details below), using our secure credit card facility, through SnapScan, and by making a pledge through the staff payroll. You can also opt to set up monthly payments. In all cases you can choose to donate to UCT generally, or to a specific project that you wish to support.

Those living in Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States of America can make tax deductible donations to UCT via the Transnational Giving Europe (TGE) network and the University of Cape Town Trust, a UK registered charity.

Alumni who are taxpayers in these countries should please contact the organisations listed alongside for more details, mentioning that they wish to make a donation to The UCT Trust (UK Charity Registration Number 803042).

Tax receipts are sent by email for all donations (once a year for monthly donors, and within two weeks of receiving single donations).

More information about all of these options can be found on the Ways to Give page, on the Development and Alumni Department website (http://www.alumni.uct.ac.za/giving/ways-to-give).

Alternatively, please contact:Ashraf Mohammed Cindy de OlivieraDonations Finance Officer Individual Giving Coordinator+27 21 650 4148 +27 21 650 [email protected] [email protected]

Bank details for donationsBank: Standard BankAccount name: UCT DonationsAccount Number: 071522387Account Type: Business Current AccountBranch: Rondebosch, 025009

Swift Address: SBZA ZA JJReference: Donor & Project name (if you wish to donate to a specific project)Once a deposit or electronic payment has been made, please notify us: [email protected]

How to donate to UCT

AustraliaUCT Trust (Australia)

Tel: 0292480313 or 0416034971Email: [email protected] / ruth.

[email protected]

BelgiumKing Baudouin Foundation

Tel: +32-2-549-02-31Email: [email protected]

CanadaEmail: [email protected]

Website: www.uctcanada.ca

FranceFondation de FranceTel: +33-1-442-187-60

Email: [email protected]

GermanyMaecenataStiftung

Tel: +49 30 2838 7909Email: [email protected]

IrelandCommunity Foundation

for IrelandTel: +35-3-187-473-54

Email: [email protected]

NetherlandsOranjeFonds

Tel: +31-30-656-4524Email: [email protected]

SpainFundación Carlos de Amberes


orEmpresa y Sociedad


SwitzerlandSwiss Philanthropy Foundation


Please note that the minimum donation accepted via Swiss

Philanthropy Foundation is CHF500

United KingdomUCT Trust (UK)

Tel: +44 208 390 9133Email: [email protected]

United States of AmericaUCT Fund, Inc

Email: [email protected]: www.uctfund.org

2019 alumni alum - alumni.uct.ac.za · o the uct t a tifying and enriching ” s e d e a . , she...

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